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THE 



Light of the World, 



THE SECOND PART 



Life and Teaching's of onr Lord 



IN VERSE 



^ 



By ABRAHAM COLES, M.D., LL.D. 

Author of "Dies Ir.«: in Thirteen Versions," 

"The Microcosm and Other Poems," 

" Old Gems in New Settings," 

ETC., ETC. 



>. 



MOV 20 1804/1 



NEW YORK 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1885 



-i^l 



C-; 



/. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1884, by 

ABRAHAM COLES, 
In the Ofifice of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



Advertiser Printing Hoi'se, 
newark, n. j. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

The Preface, xi.-xxxi. 

I. The Kingdom of God. — Christ's discourse wit/i 
Nicodetmis. The New Birth. God's great 
love. The Son of Man lifted up. Hymn. i 

(John ii. 23-25 ; iii. 1-21.) 

II. John's Final Testimony — The Heavenly 
Bridegroom. — Everlasting Life in the Son. 
Hymn. ------- 14 

(John iii. 22-36.) 

III. The Dialogue at Jacob's Well. — The Liv- 

ing Water. True Worship. '■'■This is the 
Christ .1 the Saviour of the World." Hymn. 19 

(John iv. 1-42.) 

IV. Return to Galilee. — Rejection at Nazar- 

eth. — The nobleman's son healed at Cana. 
Jesus teaches publicly. Leaves Nazareth arid 
comes to Capernaum. Hymn. - - - 29 
(John iv. 43-54 ; Luke iv. 16-31.) 
V. Abode at Capernaum. — The Apostolate. — 
Call of Peter, Andreia, James and John. 
Hymn. ------- 38 

(Matt. iv. 13-22 ; Mark i. 16-20 ; Luke v. i-ii.) 

VI. Healer and Saviour. — Christ heals a demon- 
iac, Peter s wife's mother, and others. De- 



vi. CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

scription of diseases. Cures a leper. Proves 
His p07ver to forgive sins by making a para- 
lytic walk. Psalm ciii. - - - - 44 

(Mark i. 21 — ii. 12 ; Luke iv. 31 — v. 26 ; Matt. viii. 
2-4 ; ix. 2-8.) 

V'll. The New Dispensation. — The Sabhath. — 
Call of Levi {Matthezi.>). Why Jesus' disci- 
ples do not fast. Nenv wine put into new bot- 
tles. He heals the impotent man at the Pool 
of Bethesda on the Sabbath. Justifies Him- 
self before the Sanhedrim. His disciples 
pluck ears of corn. The Son of Man is Lord 
of the Sabbath. Restores a man 7vith a 
withered hand. The elders charge blasphemy 
and seek to kill Him. Hynin, - - - 55 

(Matt. ix. 9-13 ; xii. 1-21 ; Mark ii. 13-28 ; iii. 1-12 ; 
Luke V. 27-32 ; Luke vi. 1-5 ; John v. 1-47.) 

VIII. The Sermon on the Mount. — He chooses and 

ordains the Ttvelve. Heals great numbers 

come frojn all parts. Teaches and legislates 

with supreme authority. Psalm i. - - 75 

(Matt. V. I — vii. 29; Mark iii. 13-19; Luke vi. 12-49.) 

IX. The Centurion. — Widow of Nain. — Impris- 
onment AND Death of John. — He heals 
the Centurion s servant. Raises the JP'ido7C' 
of Nains son. John in prison sends tivo of 
his disciples to Jesus. Christ's eulogy. Ode. 98 

(Matt. viii. i, 5-13; xi. 2-19; xiv. 3-12; Mark vi. 17- 
29; Luke vii. 1-35.) 

X. The Penitent Woman. — The Unpardon- 



CONTENTS. vii. 



TAGE. 



ABLE Sin. — Beware of Covetousness. — 
While at meat at the house of Simon, the 
Pharisee, a woman, who raas a sinner, enters 
and anoints his feet. Psalm li. Demons 
cast out with a word. Blasphemy against 
the Holy Ghost. They seek a sign. The sign 
of the prophet Jonah. JVho are His tnother 
and brethren^ The rich fool. The spared 
fig tree. - - - - - - - 109 

(Luke vii. 36-50; viii. ig-21; xi. 14-36; xii. 13-21; 
xiii. 1-9; Matt. xii. 22-50; Mark iii. 19-35.) 

XI. What the Kingdom of Heaven is Like. — 
The Parable of the Sower, of the Tares, of 
the Mustard Seed, of the Leaven, of the Hid 
Treasure, of the Pearl, of the Drag-net. 
Hymn. - - - - - - - 128 

(Matt. xiii. 1-52; Mark iv. 1-20; Luke viii. 4-15.) 
XII. Tempest Stilled. — Demoniac of Gadara. — 
Jairus' Daughter.— a Believing Touch. 
He heals two blind men and a dumb ?na?i. - 135 
(Matt. viii. 23-34; Mark iv. 35 — v. 43; Luke viii. 22- 
56.) 

XIII. The 'Twelve Sent Out.— Five Thousand 

Fed. — JValks on the water. The True 
Bread. Hymn. - - - - - 143 

(Matt. ix. 35 — X. 39; xiv. 12-36; Mark vi. 7-13; Luke 
ix. 1-17; John vi. 1-69.) 

XIV. What Defiles. — Syrophenician Woman. — 

Seven Thousand Fed. - - - - 159 
(Matt. XV. 1-39; Mark vii. r — viii. 9.) 



viii. CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

XV. The Transfiguration. — Demoniac Cured. 
— Duties of Fait/i, Humility, Forgiveness. 
Parable of the Unmerciful Servant. - - i66 
(Matt. xvi. 13-23; xvii. 1-27; xviii. 1-35; Mark ix. i- 
50; Luke ix. 18 — x. 20.) 

XVI. Jerusalem through Samaria. — Ten lepers 
cleansed. Feast of the Tabernacles. The 
looman taken in adultery. True Freedom. 
The Good Samaritan. Martha and Mary. 
The man bor?i blind healed on the Sabbath. 
The Good Shepherd. I and My Father are 
one. Hymn. - - - - - - 176 

(Luke ix. 51-56; xvii. 11-19; John vii. 8 — x. 42.) 
XVII. I AM THE Resurrection and the Life. — 
Sickness and death of Lazarus. Raised to 
life. Theories. Fxplatiation of terms. Hytnn. 194 

(John xi. 1-46.) 
XVIII. Retires beyond the Jordan. — Dines with a 
chief Pharisee on the Sabbath. On coveting 
chief seats at table. Parable of the Great 
Supper, of the Lost Sheep, of the Prodigal 
Son, of the Unjust Steward, of the Rich 
Man and Lazarus, of the Unjust Judge, of 
the Pharisee and Publican. Blesses little 
children. The Rich Young Man. Danger 
of riches. Follotving Hifn in the regenera- 
tion. Parable of the Laborers in the Vine- 
yard ; Unprofitable Servants. - - - 210 

(John xi. 47-54; xii. i, 17-19; Mark x. i, 13-31; 
Luke xiii. 22, 31 — xiv. 24 — xvi. 31; Matt. xxi. 
1-46; Luke xvii. 7-10.) 



CONTENTS. ix. 

PAGE- 

XIX. Return to Jerusalem through Jericho. — 
James and Johns ambitious request. Blind 
Bartimeus. Zaccheus the Publican. Para- 
ble of the Ten Pounds. Public entry into 
Jerusalem. Second cleansing of the Temple. 
Of the Txvo Sons. Parable of the Wicked 
Husbandman. - - - - - -231 

(Matt. XX. 17-34; xxi. 1-41; Mark X. 32-52; xi. i — 
xii. g; Luke xviii. 31 — xix. 27 — xx, ig.) 

XX. Nearing the End. — Of paying tribute to Coesar. 
The question of the Sadducees, deniers of the 
resurrection. The Messiah David's Son and . 
Lord The pride and hypocrisy of the Scribes 
and Pharisees exposed. Vision of the fate 
of Jerusale?n. The widow's mite. Leaves 
the Temple for the last time. The disciples 
admire its stones, etc. He foretells its de- 
structioft and that of the City. The duty of 
watching. The Parable of the Ten Virgins, 
of the Sheep and Goats. Dies Irce. - - 245 

(Matt. xxii. 15 — xxv. 46; Mark xii. 13 — xiii. 37; Luke 
XX. 20 — xxi. 37.) 

XXI. The Last Supper. — Farewell Words. — At 
a supper given in Bethany at the house of 
Simon the leper, Mary anoints His head and 
feet. Passover and Memorial Supper. He 
washes the disciples' feet. The tnafiy man- 
sions. Intercessory Prayer. - - - 276 

(Matt. xxvi. 1-35; Mark xiv. 1-25; Luke xxii. 1-38; 
John xii. 1-8, 46; xiii. i — xvii. 26.) 



X. CONTENTS. 

I'AGE. 

XXII. The Betrayal, Trial and Sentence. — 

Judas' remorse and suicide. - - - 295 

(Matt. xxvi. 36 — xxvii. 66; Mark xiv. 26 — xv. 20; 
Luke xxii. 39 — xxiii. 24; John xviii. i — xix. 16.) 

XXIII. The Crucifixion AND Entombment. — Hymns. 317 

(Matt. xxvi. 31 — xxvii. 66; Mark xv. 20-47; Luke 
xxiii. 26-49; John xix. 16-42.) 

XXIV. Resurrection and Ascension. — Touch me 

not. I am not yet ascended. Note. Joins 
tivo disciples on their way to Emmaus. 
Easter and Ascension Hymns. Pe?itecost. 
Speaking with tongues. Peter s discourse. 
Veni, Creator Spiritus. - - - - 7i2)'^ 
(Matt, xxviii, 1-20; Mark xvi. 1-16; Luke xxiv. 1-51; 
John XX. I — xxi. 25; Acts ii. 1-38.) 



PREFACE. 

npHE EVANGEL,* forming the First Part of ''The Life 
and Teachings of Our Lord," in Verse, barring some 
anticipations of events, stopped at the threshold of His 
ministry; and the present Volume — The Light of the 
World — is a continuation of the same through the entire 
Four Gospels to the end. Since the publication of that 
First Part, other Lives of Christ in Prose have appeared; 
but if it be true as George Herbert supposes, 

" A verse may find him who a sermon flies," 

the writer indulges the hope that the novelty of a Complete 
Life in Verse, including all His Words, conscientiously 
faithful, and one from which everything fictitious is care- 

*There has appeared, since the first publication of The Evangel, Mr. Edwin Arnold's 
interesting (but somewhat misleading) Poem entitled " The Light of Asia, or, the Great 
Renunciation, being the Life and Teaching of Gautama, Prince of India and Founder 
of Buddhism." Four hundred and seventy millions of our race, the author estimates, 
live and die in the tenets of Gautama. Who was Gautama ? Did such a person ever 
exist? If so. What was the purport of his teachings? According to our author, he 
was born in the seventh century before Christ; other authorities make his birth two 
centuries later. Gautama was the family name ; his individual name was Siddartha ; 
Buddha was titular, meaning "The Enlightened One." He appeared as a Reformer 
of Brahminism, and an Opposer of Caste. His history is full of fable. Concerning 
his teaching, the author remarks, there has arisen prodigious controversy among the 
learned. He states his "own conviction that a third of mankind could never have 
been brought to believe in blank abstractions, or in Nothingness as the issue and 
crown of Being." The battle has raged chiefly around the import of three terras 



xii. PREFACE. 

fully excluded — if tolerably executed, may still find accept- 
ance at the hands of some readers. All people are not alike. 
Tastes differ. Some people seldom or never read a line of 
poetry, good or bad. Another class are so exclusive in 
their likings as to deny even the name of poetry to some of 
the most admired pieces in the language. They will not 
allow, for example, that Goldsmith's " Deserted Village " 
has any just claim to be called poetry. They affirm, and 
aftirm truly, that it contains no expression that might not 

viz.: " Nirvana," " Dharma" and " Karma." According to most authorities, Nirvana 
means annihilation, the Buddhist's Sumnum Bonum ; for, to beis to be miserable ; all 
existence is sorrow. Dharma is law or truth or righteousness. Karma (literally 
"doing") expresses the sum of a man's deservings, both his merits and demerits, 
•which is the only thing that survives when a man dies. The soul and self cease to ex- 
ist, but this Karma, which is a pure abstraction, a mere word, and not an entity at all, 
is, nevertheless, the active cause of a new being ; and transmigration consists in in- 
numerable transfers, not of a soul for that has perished, but of merit and demerit, 
until at last all demerit being done away with. Nirvana is reached, which is the end 
of births and the final extinction of being. When a bad man dies, the demerit may 
be such, as that, passing by the vilest of animal forms, it shall descend to originate a 
new existence in one of the 136 Buddhist hells situated in the interior of the earth, 
where the shortest term of punishment is ten millions of years ; the longest in- 
computable. This is what makes Nirvana so desirable, that all existence even 
the highest, that of' deva or god, involves the possibility of this degradation. 
Never was there a system more intensely pessimistic. Mr. Arnold has given us only 
the brighter side — in obedience, as he says, to the laws of poetic art, omitting much- 
Beyond some humane and excellent precepts. Buddhism has little to recommend 
it. Its highest hope is a horror, and this is attainable only on impossible conditions. 
No one may pray, for there is no one to pray to, no Helper. This is Buddhism at its 
best; as it was— not as it is, "sorely overlaid with corruptions," its vitality gone. 
Woe to the race, if it had no other Gospel. In view of the disposition exhibited on 
the part of some to challenge a comparison between the system of BuddTiism and Chris- 
tianity, to set up Gautama as a rival to Christ, the writer has been led to give to 
this Second Part the title of The Light of the World, in contradistinction to that of 
the somewhat invidious one, The Light 0/ Asia, adopted by Mr. Arnold for his work. 



PREFACE. 



xin. 



be used in eloquent and descriptive prose. For like reasons 
they regard Dryden and Pope as clever versifiers, but not 
as entitled to take rank as poets; so true is it, that bigots 
are not confined to religion. These devotees of a creed and 
slaves of a theory scornfully reject what does not conform 
to their standard. But that narrowness, which refuses to 
let people be pleased in their own way, is unamiable to say 
the least. 

In view of the impossibility of framing a definition of 
Poetry, that shall so fix its meaning, as to furnish a just 
rule for determining in all cases what is Poetry and what 
is not, it is fortunate, that some security, against the caprice 
of individual opinion and the tyranny of fashion, can be 
found in one easily applied test, if not of genuineness, of 
fitness. It is within everyone's reach, and no one need fear 
to apply it. Poetry is certainly Verse, even if it be some- 
thing more. Verse, regarded as a means to an end, which 
is pleasure — either the pleasure of beauty or utility, one or 
both — is always, it is safe to say, a legitimate instrument, 
when it serves these purposes, whether men choose to 
dignify it with the name of Poetry or not. The mere fact, 
that Pope's " Essay on Man " has passed through numerous 
editions, and given pleasure to countless readers during 
a hundred and fifty years and more, is a sufficient vindica- 
tion of its metric form, in spite of all that has been said, or 
can be said, in regard to the unfitness of the subject for 



xiv. PREFACE. 

poetical treatment. His biographer, Dr. Johnson, says: 
"Its reception was not uniform: some thought it a very 
imperfect piece, though not without good lines." To say 
that it is shallow in its philosophy, and sophistical in its 
reasoning, and of no moral value, besides being, in no 
proper sense, Poetry, only strengthens the evidence in favor 
of the superior effectiveness of Verse; since, in that case, it 
would be due to the inherent buoyancy of this alone, that 
a showy piece of pretentious wisdom has been kept afloat 
so long. 

Some go so far as to assert, that Didactic Poetry is a 
contradiction in terms; and that no poetry can have the 
function of teaching; which, if it be true, so much the worse 
for Poetry; for if the name is to be so restricted, as to sever 
Poetry from all moral and religious uses, then is there rele- 
gated to Verse distinctively, a preeminent office of instruc- 
tion and delight, not attainable to Prose and unfitted for 
Poetry, making it the nobler of the two. It suffices for the 
argument, that Verse has been used from time immemorial 
for setting forth highest things; and found to be an ad- 
mirable expedient for stimulating attention and awakening 
interest, less perfectly accomplished by other means. If 
Pope chooses to trammel Jiimself with the incumbrance of 
metre and rhyme in a Moral Piece, having found that he 
could express himself with greater conciseness, force and 
grace in that way than any other, he surely ought to be al- 



PREFACE. 



XV, 



lowed to do so, without subjecting himself to the imputation 
of folly. Doubtless his Essay could have been written in 
prose. Indeed it was declared at the time that it was so 
written, and that the poet did little more than translate 
Bolingbroke's prose into verse. But in prose it is certain 
that it would have had but few readers. 

Hegel is credited with saying, "That metre is the first 
and only condition absolutely demanded by poetry, yea, 
even more necessary than figurative, picturesque diction." 

Sir Philip Sidney wrote a Defense of Poetry. We are 
satisfied to limit ourselves to a Defense of Verse. Arch- 
bishop Trench in the Introduction to his Sacred Latin Poetry 
elaborates a Defense of Rhyme. He says: " The non-recog- 
nition of this, man's craving after, and deep delight in, the 
rhythmic and periodic — a craving which nature everywhere 
meets and gratifies and which all truest Art seeks to gratify 
as well — a seeing nothing in all this but a trick and artifice 
applied from without, lies at the root of that singular 
theory concerning the unfitness of poetry to be the vehicle 
of our highest addresses to God, and most reverent utter- 
ances about Him. * * * Everyone who has watched 
the effect on his own mind of the orderly marching of a 
regiment, or of the successive breaking of the waves upon 
the shore, or aught else which is thus rhyth?nic and periodic, 
knows, that in this, inspiring as it does the sense of order 
and proportion and purpose, there is ever an elevating and 



xvi. PREFACE. 

solemnizing power." Young, in his "Essay on Lyric 
Poetry," accounts for th.^ pleasure of rhyme on the principle, 
that "difficulties overcome give grace and pleasure." He 
further remarks: "It holds true in the province of writing 
as of war, the more danger the more honor." To a person 
engaged in a hazardous undertaking such a thought is cer- 
tainly encouraging. 

Of Lives of Christ in Prose there are many and excel- 
lent. The present one in Verse grew out of the conviction 
that a true non-epical Life in Verse (there being none) was 
a desideratum; that it was fitting, feasible, and calculated to 
be useful; that if a Prose Life was lawful, a Life in Verse 
was equally so; that no objection could be urged against 
the one, that did not lie against the other; that if a Life in 
Verse involved a change in diction, so did a Life in Prose 
involve it; so did every translation out of the original 
Greek, the most literal as well as the most free, involve it; so 
did all exegesis and interpretation involve it; the plain 
conclusion being, that nothing is sacred but the sense; and 
that to a proper understanding of this even, the employ- 
ment of verbal and sentential equivalents is often indispen- 
sable. As well might one quarrel with his Dictionary, as 
to make these inevitable changes a ground of offense. 
Were they less inevitable, they would still be useful, for 
everybody knows how much light is derived from synonyms 
— from putting, that is to say, the same truth into new 
words. 



PREFACE. 



XVll. 



It is surprising, how much real ignorance is to be found 
among not a few habitual readers of the Bible, so that, if 
singly asked, * Understandest thou what thou readest ?' 
they would suddenly be roused to the consciousness, how 
imperfect was their knowledge of the meaning of words 
with which they had been familiar from childhood; for 
nothing is more delusive, than this external familiarity with 
the mere garb of thought, the language and nothing more. 
The mind, under the benumbing spell of these incessant 
repetitions of old words, may have come to perceive 
vaguely or not at all their import; so that an important 
point is gained, if, startled by the strangeness of new 
phraseology, this slumber of the faculties is broken. For 
nothing profits, unless it is understood. 

It may be reckoned among the advantages of the poeti- 
cal form that it necessitates these explanatory changes. 
Owing, moreover, to the fact, that the poetic diction is 
naturally allied to the antique style of the Received Version, 
and shares its aloofness from everyda}^ speech, a Poetic Life 
may fairly claim this as weighing in its favor, against the 
exclusive pretensions of Prose. This matter of literary 
perspective is not a thing to be slighted. An object can be 
too close to the eye. A certain remoteness is favorable for 
right vision. No writer, without necessity, would wish to 
cut himself off from the benefit to be derived from this 
source. But in the present case, the haze of distance 
b 



xviii. PREFACE. 

would not be the only gain, could the writer, when he had 
transported himself back to the time when our matchless 
English Version was first made, so far catch the spirit of the 
age, as to animate and mould his diction into some likeness 
of the prevailing form — for, by so doing, he might hope to 
appropriate a portion of that favor accorded to the sweet- 
ness and charm of that Version so dear to all hearts. 

There is a fashion in Verse no less than in dress. The 
reigning mode of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries dif- 
fered from that of the seventeenth and eighteenth. The 
earlier mode was characterized by a greater naturalness, 
variety and freedom — "robes loosely flowing," a graceful 
negligence, " a wild civility," not unfrequently more be- 

Avitching, 

" Than when art 
Is too precise in every part." 

The later mode is chiefly distinguished from this, by hav- 
ing no lines overlapping and running into each other, but 
each complete in itself; weighed as well as measured; a 
nice adjustment and balancing of parts; a rigid properness 
and stateliness, and a strictness of etiquette, requiring you 

" Still to be neat, still to be drest 
As you were going to a feast." 

This kind of Verse in long poems is apt to tire from its mo- 
notony ; and, owing to its artificial structure, is particularly 



PREFACE. xix. 

unfavorable, in translating, to exactness and fidelity. The 
earlier mode was therefore chosen, both because of its con- 
temporaneousness and its greater suitableness for his pur- 
pose. 

Lessing is undoubtedly right in considering, that the 
Gospels are immortal masterpieces, which it would be vain 
to hope to rival. " Who," he asks, " after the Evangelists 
will venture to write the Life of Jesus ? " So far from dis- 
senting from this view, it is the writer's own ; and therefore 
it is, that he has studiously avoided the slightest departure 
from those divine originals. He has reverently and faith- 
fully followed them word by word, line by line, verse by 
verse, chapter by chapter, each Gospel apart and the four 
together. At the same time, he has been glad to avail him- 
self of the labors of those (Robinson in particular) who 
have devoted much time and study to the necessary task of 
rearranging, blending and harmonizing the statements of 
the Inspired Four, without which a complete and consecu- 
tive Life were impossible. The Evangelists wrote in Greek. 
Of course, the great critic could not have intended to in- 
terdict translations; nor would he mean to say that there 
should be no new versions. A new version is not a new Life 
nor a different one. While no version can have the author- 
ity of the Greek Original, still in view of the great excel- 
lence of our Protestant Version, its claim to consideration 
is hardly inferior. The writer, taking this for a basis, has 



XX. PREFACE. 

sought to preserve unaltered, as far as possible, its abound- 
ing felicities of expression; to retain, as it has been itself 
so successful in retaining, the unstudied simplicities and sin- 
cerities of the Sacred Story; to imitate the swift brevities 
of a record, which finds means to crowd into the narrow 
compass of a few pages the prodigious fulness of an un- 
paralleled Life and Mission. Aiming at something higher 
than merely chopping up prose into rhymed couplets, he 
has labored to combine, with his attempt to weave into a 
seamless oneness the Fourfold Gospel, an exegetical pur- 
pose, making his work interpretative like a Commentary. 
In the spirit of loyalty to the Greek Original as well as to 
the English Version he was careful to consult both; and 
to avail himself of such critical helps as were within his 
reach, in order that he might get at the right meaning and 
the exact shade of meaning. In performing a task so deli- 
cate and difficult, it would have been unpardonable not to 
have done so. 

Great and good men for many hundred years, having 
given their lives to the study and explanation of these Divine 
Writings, it would be strange, if their learned labors had 
not yielded some fruit worth the gathering. Besides what 
has come down to us from the past, the modern press is 
teeming with new publications of the greatest value, all 
having reference to one great central Figure. The shelves 
of our libraries groan with the weight of voluminous Com. 



PREFACE. xxi. 

mentaries — conspicuous among these is a most painstaking 
and excellent one (Stier's) consisting of nine large volumes 
devoted to " The Words of Jesus " alone. The entire field 
having been found too large for cultivation, it has been di- 
vided into sections, one of which is given to "The Miracles of 
Our Lord," another to " The Parables," etc., forming books 
of ample size — the last few rnonths having added two 
more on the Parables to those already existing. During 
the last decade the Lives of Christ have multiplied as never 
before, eloquently written and rich in information. 

With these sources of knowledge and help open to him, it 
would seem that he ought to have been well equipped for 
his undertaking; and that his only difficulty would be the 
embarrassment arising from abundance. But while he en- 
deavored to glean from all these fields, what was adapted 
to throw light upon the Sacred Text, he aimed to make 
all subservient to a textual, not a glossarial, enrichment, 
and a completer setting forth, elucidation and unfolding of 
the entire Gospel story in unadorned verse, relying on the 
intrinsic beauty and grandeur of the theme for awakening 
interest, making a book, which should be at once a Life and 
a Commentary, that could be easily read in a few sittings. 
Any attempt to add to or take from the sacred narrative, ex- 
cept in the way of elucidation, he felt was a kind of impiety. 
Besides, he saw no occasion for any profane inventions. 
Nothing was wanting to completeness in respect to plan or 



xxii. PREFACE. 

material. It has its own beginning, middle and end, and 
all needful machinery within itself. To seek to refashion 
it according to heathen models was, therefore, he consid- 
ered, to place the human above the divine; and was sanc- 
tioned neither by religion nor taste. 

A writer setting out to produce an Epic Poem of which 
Christ should be the Hero, his first step, in conform.ity with 
all custom, is from the region of Truth into that of Fable. 
The Muse, to be sure, is now no longer tethered and held 
down by reality: but while in this there may be some poeti- 
cal gain, it cannot be denied that this ampler freedom has, 
in this case particularly, a most serious drawback; for un- 
happily, the ornaments of fiction tend, as has been repeat- 
edly said, to give to truth itself the appearance of fable. 
It is difficult for those, not under the dominion of classical 
prejudice, to become wholly reconciled to the introduction 
of these heathenisms, or any modification of them, into a 
Christian Poem. At best, they belong to another age, and 
deserve to become obsolete. Poetry loses nothing by the 
rejection of these pedantic fopperies — the cast-off finery of 
former times; and the substitution of a direct and manly 
utterance for glittering prettinesses, insincerities and affec- 
tations. Even Virgil's, 

" Oceanum interea surgens Aurora reliquil — " 
is a round-about and pretty way of saying that the sun 



PREFACE. xxiii. 

rose, but is not necessarily more poetical than the statement 
of the fact in plain words. 

Examples of the Epic, with Christ for the subject, are 
not wanting. One of the earliest and most famous of these 
is Vida's "Christiad, //? A'jc Books," written, we are told, in 
the purest Virgilian Latin, and " first published in the year 
1535, with an apologetical advertisement at the close of the 
work, in which the author excuses the boldness of the at- 
tempt by informing the reader, that he was induced to be- 
gin and to persevere in his undertaking by the solicitations 
and munificence of the two pontiffs Leo X. and Clement 
VII."* Vida was born at Cremona; and it is to his " Chris- 
tiad " that Milton refers in the fourth line of the fourth 
verse of his poem on "The Passion:" 

" Loud o'er the rest Cremona's trump doth sound." 

It is mentioned as one of the merits of his work that " he 
avoids the error of mingling the profane fables of the 
heathen mythology with the mysteries of the Christian Re- 
ligion," by which, however, is not meant that he dispenses 
with all fiction. A specimen of the Poem may be seen in 
the following extract, descriptive of the descent of the 
Holy Ghost as a dove at the baptism of Jesus: 

" Protinus aurifluo Jordanes gurgite fulsit; 
Et supen'im vasto intonuit domus alta fragore. 

*Roscoe's Life of Leo X. 



xxiv. PREFACE. 

Insuper et coeli claro delapsa columba est 
Vertice per purum candenti argentea pluma 
Terga, sed aurati circum et rutilantibus alis: 
Jamque viam late signans super astitit ambos, 
Coelestique aura pendens afiflavit utrumque. 
Vox simul et magni rubra genitoris et aethra 
Audita est nati dulcem testantis amorem." 

C/irisfiad IV., 2/4-222. 

In German, we have Klopstock's "Messiah, in J^i/teefi 
Books,'' which came to be regarded, by many of his own 
countrymen at least, as an Epic equal to those of Dante, 
Milton and Tasso. In English, Samuel Wesley, the father 
of John and Charles, wrote " The Life of Christ, a Heroic 
Poem, in Ten Books,'' more remarkable, it is thought, for 
piety and learning than poetic merit; although it did not 
want admirers among contemporaries. 

The only other attempt of this kind known to the writer 
is "The Christiad, a Divine Poem," by Henry Kirk White. 
It was a work, it seems, that lay very near the poet's heart, 
and he touchingly laments in a couple of stanzas appended 
to the unfinished work, written a short tiine before his 
death, that he should not live to complete it. His biogra- 
pher, Southey, while praising the Fragment as evincing 
great power in its execution, nevertheless objects to it, for 
the reason already adverted to, that "the mixture of myth- 
ology makes the truth itself appear fabulous." 

A common cause of failure in this and other undertak- 
ings, no doubt, is over-ambition. Did we not know that what 



PREFACE. 



XXV. 



is simple and what is obvious is apt to be despised or over- 
looked, we should be at a loss to explain why some poet 
qualified for the undertaking, has not long ere this, dis- 
carding fiction and the high heroic method, been tempted, 
out of the sufficient and matchless materials supplied in the 
authentic memorabilia contained in the Four Gospels, to 
compose a True Life instead of a partly false one. It can 
hardly be pretended, that the reason for such a Life remain- 
ing so long among " things unattempted," is its unfitness 
in that naked shape for poetic treatment. If a noble life 
purely human, as Milton imagines, is of itself a true poem, 
surely a Life divinely perfect like that of Christ cannot be 
less; and the supposition that it stands in need of fictitious 
aid to make it beautiful is wholly inadmissable. 

The writer is not sure, that it will be accepted as an 
apology for his temerity, that, believing in the utility of 
such a work, lie ventured because there was no one else to 
venture. Having observed that verse lent itself wonder- 
fully to the requirements of brevity and strength, he knew 
no reason why it should not be used in unfolding the un- 
speakable uniqueness of that Divine Personalitj^, manifested 
both in the sphere of speech and conduct, with which we 
are made familiar in the Gospels. Painting and Sculpture 
have done their best; but neither pencil nor chisel has been 
able to produce anything better than a lifeless copy of the 
Divine Original. But portrayed in the pages of the Four 
Evangelists, the picture lives : 



XXvi. PREFACE. 

" Let be, let be ; 
What was he that did make it? See, my lord. 
Would you not deem it breathed, and that those veins 
Did verily bear blood ?" 

He did not hide from himself the difficulties or dangers of 
the undertaking; or his individual unfitness to execute it 
worthily. If, as Cowper says, "A just translation of any 
ancient poet in rhyme is impossible, since no human in- 
genuity can be equal to the task of closing everj' couplet 
with sounds homotonous, expressing at the same time the 
full sense and only the sense of the original," how could he 
hope to succed in a work, certainly not less difficult, and 
infinitely more delicate — owing to the sacredness of the 
matter — that of turning the plain prose of the Gospels into 
easy rhyme, without injury to the sense or expression ? Had 
he shared in the opinion that it was impossible, he would, 
of course, have abstained from an attempt, which imposed 
not only the duty of fidelity to the sense, but such a literal- 
ness of rendering and preservation of the precise diction 
of the English version, as that the likeness should be per- 
ceptible to the ear as well as to the understanding. 

As in music, amid the most complex variations, the 
original melody is perpetually suggested; so, to meet the 
ideal requirement, his poetical reproduction would need in 
the reading, to be resonant with the voices and echoes 
of the'prose original, more or less distinctly heard in every 



PREFACE. xxvii. 

line. He dare not hope that he has achieved more than a 
moderate success: but did he suppose that he had failed to 
do fair justice to the letter and spirit of the sacred narrative, 
equal to what would be attainable in prose, he would not 
be justified, he considers, in publishing. It is an experiment 
which he felt was worth the making just for the once. It 
has cost him a good deal of time and labor which if thrown 
away, he cannot help it. It will be his own loss, not that 
of the critic nor the public. 

A single word in regard to another point. The writer 
considers, that a man's utterances ought to be his own. and 
not another's. Unless he has something to say. it is his 
duty to keep silent. The timidity, that limits itself to 
parrot-like repetitions of what has been said ten thousand 
times, is of little account. So long as we speak sincerely. 
we may speak boldly, and the more boldly, because the 
right of dissent is inherent. A conscientious man would 
hardly dare to speak at all. if he knew that all he said 
would be received as unquestionable truth. He is honestly 
glad that, if he is wrong, even,-body is at liberty to show it. 
The writer, having ventured in some cases to deviate from 
received interpretations, he congratulates himself that they 
will carry with them no weight outside of the reasons that 
accompany them. He firmly believes that the interests of 
truth have suffered from no one cause more than from the 
authority of great names. 



xxviii. PREFACE. 

Upon the general question of the propriety and suita- 
bleness of scriptural subjects for poetry, the opinion of 
Cowley even in our day is entitled to some weight. He 
says: "All the books of the Bible are either already admir- 
able and exalted Poesy, or are the best materials for it'' 

As bearing on questions which have been much discussed, 
touching the authenticity of the Gospels and the reality of 
the Divine Life they portray, we append the following re- 
markable admissions coming from men of the highest genius, 
whose value and force are, certainly, enhanced rather than 
diminished by the fact, that their authors have generally 
been classed with unbelievers. One cannot help honoring 
their candor, whatever may bethought of their consistency: 

"I esteem the Gospels to be thoroughly genuine, for 
there shines from them the reflected splendor of a sublimity 
proceeding from the person of Jesus Christ of so divine a 
kind, as only the divine could ever have manifested upon 
earth." — Goethe. 

'' I confess the majesty of the Scriptures astonishes me, 
and the holiness of the Gospel speaks to my heart. Behold 
the books of philosophy, with all their pomp, how small 
they appear beside this! Can it be, that a book at once so 
sublime and so simple, is the work of man ? Can it be, that 
He who forms its history is only a man ? What sweetness, 
what purity in His manners! What touching grace in His 
instructions! What elevation in His maxims! What pro- 



PREFACE. 



XIX. 



found wisdom in His discourses! What presence of mind! 
What fineness, what justness in His answers! What empire 
over His passions! Where is the man, where is the philoso- 
pher, who knows how to act, to suffer and to die without 
feebleness and without ostentation? When Plato painted 
his imaginary just man, covered with all the opprobrium of 
crime, and worthy of all the rewards of virtue, he gave an 
exact portrait of Jesus Christ. The resemblance is so 
striking and unmistakeable that all the fathers perceived 
it. What prejudice, what blindness, to compare the son of 
Sophroniscus with the son of Mary! What a distance one 
from the other! Socrates, dying without pain, without 
ignominy, sustained easily his part to the end. His death 
philosophizing tranquilly with his friends, is the sweetest 
that cotdd be desired; that of Jesus, expiring in agony 
reviled, mocked, cursed by all the people, is the most hor- 
rible that could be feared. Socrates, taking the poisoned 
cup, blessed him who wept as he presented it to him; Jesus 
in the midst of frightful tortures, prayed for his infuriated 
executioners. Surely, if the life and death of Socrates 
were those of a philosopher, the life and death of Jesus 
Christ were those of a God! Shall we say that the Gospe, 
History is an invention ? My friend, it is not so easy to 
invent; and the facts concerning Socrates are not so well 
attested as those concerning Jesus Christ. Indeed, this 
were but to shift the difficulty without destroying it. It 



XXX. PREFACE. 

would be more inconceivable, that many men should have 
united to fabricate this book, than that one man should 
have furnished the subject of it. The Gospel has charac- 
ters of truth so grand, so striking, so perfectly inimitable, 
that the inventor of it would be more astonishing than the 
hero." — Rousseau. 

"I know men; and I tell you that Jesus is not a man. 
Everything in Him amazes me. His spirit outreaches 
mine, and His will confounds me. Comparison is impossi- 
ble between Him and any other being in the world. He is 
truly a being by Himself. His ideas, and His sentiments; 
the truth that He announces; His manner of convincing, 
are all beyond humanity and the natural order of things. 
His birth and the story of His life; the profoundness of His 
doctrine, which overturns all difficulties, and is their 
most complete solution; His Gospel; the singularity of His 
mysterious being; His appearance; His empire; His pro- 
gress through all centuries and kingdoms; — all this is to 
me a prodigy, an unfathomable mystery. I see here 
nothing of man. Near as I may approach, clearly as I may 
examine, all remains above my comprehension — great with 
a greatness that crushes me. It is in vain that I reflect — 
all remains unaccountable. I defy you to cite another life 
like that of Christ." — Napoleon. 

"Jesus Christ is in the noblest and most perfect sense 
the realized ideal of humanity." — Herder. 



PREFACE. XXxi. 

"Whatever may be the surprises of the future, Jesus 
will never be surpassed. His worship will grow young 
without ceasing. His legend will call forth tears without 
end; His sufferings will melt the noblest hearts; all ages 
will proclaim among the sons of men there is none born 
greater than Jesus." — Renan. 

"There once trod our earth a single being, who, by His 
sole moral omnipotence, controlled other ages, and founded 
an immortality peculiarly His own. He, gently blooming, 
and tractable to influences from on high, like the sunflower, 
but in His ardor and power of attracting, a sun. He, still 
with mildness of aspect, drew alike Himself, nations and 
ages to the universal and original sun. It is the meek 
spirit whom we call 'Jesus Christ.' If he was, then there 
is a Providence — or rather He was it." — Jean Paul 

RiCHTER. 

" The Life of Christ concerns Him, who being the holi- 
est among the mighty, the mightiest among the holy, lifted 
up with His pierced hand empires off their hinges, and 
turned the stream of centuries out of its channel, and still 
governs the ages." — Jean Paul Richter. 



\. 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



T 



THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 

John ii. 23-25 ; ni. 1-21. 

HE Incarnate Word of the Eternal Mind 
Unfolds His high credentials to mankind ; 
And manifests His glory hour by hour 
In gracious acts of Godlike love and power. 
At His command all sicknesses depart, 
And a new rapture springs up in the heart : 
The nerves, no more the avenues of pain, 
Thrill with the ecstasy of health again. 
With stupid wonder, men behold the sign. 
And half believe the miracle divine ; 
But, blind to its intent, they do not know 
The motive is not thaumaturgic show ; 



2 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

That His main mission is not to make whole 1°^,^ 

The mortal body, but th' immortal soul. 
With inattentive ears they hear Him tell, 
How sinful feet take hold of death and hell : 
How God sent down His Son in love and grace 
To seek and save a lost and ruined race. 

Though to His teachings deaf, His deeds awoke 
Hope of deliverance from the Roman yoke ; 
And, dallying with the false and vain surmise, 
He left for this His throne above the skies — 
Seeing the miracles He wrought each day 
During the Feast of the Passover,* they 
Would Him have owned as the Messiah then, ^+ 

And hailed Him King ; but He who knew all men, 

*The Hebrew year commenced with the first day of Nisan (Abib), "the month of 
flowers," corresponding nearly to our April, it being the month in which the Exodus 
took place. As the month was lunar, and its beginning was determined by the new 
moon at Jerusalem, the point of time necessarily varied. The day appointed for the 
Passover was the 14th, which made the Feast coincident always with the full moon. 
The Feast of Unleavened Bread included the Passover, and lasted seven days. It was 
customary however to apply the name of the Feast of the Passover to the whole period. 

We are told (Luke ii : 42), that Jesus when he was twelve years old went up with 
His parents to the Passover at Jerusalem, but whether in their yearly visits subse- 
quently He accompanied them is left to inference, the Evangelic record being silent 
as to what occurred during the eighteen years that followed. The present visit was 
the y?r.f/ Passover that He attended after the beginning of His public ministry ; the 
second is believed to have been " the Feast " mentioned at John v : i; the third hinted 
at John vii : i; X.\\^ fotoih, when He was crucified, which would make the term of His 
ministry three years and more. The Jewish Passover answers to the Christian Easter. 



THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 



3 



And needed not that any should Him tell 1°^^ 

What was in man, their motives knowing well, 
Committed not Himself to them, whose aim ^s 

Was foreign to the ends for which He came. 



"to' 



A MAN of rank, a ruler of the Jews, 
A Pharisee named Nicodemus,* whose 



* Nicodemus must have known of John's testimony concerning Jesus, for he was a 
prominent member of the body that had sent a delegation only a short time before to 
ask him — then engaged in proclaiming the near approach of the Reign of Heaven 
— who he was, and specifically, whether he was the Christ or no. John had said that 
he was not, but that the Christ nevertheless stood unknown in their midst; and then 
had on the following day pointed Him out in the person of Jesus as the Saviour of the 
World, speaking of Him as one so divinely exalted, so superior to himself, that he did 
not count himself worthy to loose the latchet of His shoes. His appearance now in 
Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover, had enabled the honorable Sanhedrist to judge 
for himself, and he, having seen with his own eyes the miracles daily performed by 
Him, was compelled to admit, that in view of such divine attestations and authentica- 
tions, there could be no doubt whatever that He was come from God. 

In the interview which he now sought, while he did not call Him so in express 
terms, His immediate and easy assumption of the character of the Messiah occasioned 
him no surprise, that being a thing for which he was prepared. Indeed it is highly 
probable, that not only was it forseen, but it was in anticipation of a speedy setting up 
of the Kingdom of God, that he had come to make a proffer of his assistance at its in- 
auguration, not doubting but that the countenance and help of a person of his dignity 
and importance would be cordially welcomed. What was his amazement, therefore, 
when Jesus, knowing his thoughts, abruptly, without preface or apology, said to him, 
" Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God!" He was thunder- 
struck. He could hardly credit his own ears. Literally or metaphorically understood 
it seemed equally unintelligible and absurd. We do not think he was so stupid or so 
ignorant as to suppose that the gross natural sense was the only possible sense or the 
one intended. Oriental every-day speech abounded in the boldest figures, and there 
is reason to believe that this figure in particular of a New Birth, expressive of an im- 
portant change and the establishment of a new relation, such as the conversion of a 
Gentile to Judaism, was a familiar one. Consequently, his materialization of the trope 
was wilful and perverse, he knowing better, but seeking to make out a reduciio ad 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Divided mind, half convert to the right, i\f^^ 

Brought him to Jesus secretly at night — 
Ashamed to come by day or else afraid — 
Addressed Him courteously, and frankly said : 



aisurdtn/i, by an expansion on the literal side. The fact is he was far too acute, 
not to perceive that the words, however construed, whether naturally or spiritually, 
were confounding and subversive, striking at the foundations of all his most cherished 
beliefs. What could he say or do with every support swept from under his feet, and 
he left with nothing to stand on ? 

That his difficulty was not with the words taken literally, is evident from the fact, 
that after Jesus' explanation of His meaning, his perplexity and bewilderment con- 
tinued as before, finding expression in the helpless inquiry, ' How can these things 
be ?' His thoughts would seem to have run in this wise : " Is it so, can it be, that God 
is no respecter of persons ? that Jew and Gentile are placed precisely on the same 
footing ? Shall it avail me nothing that I am of the stock of Israel, a Hebrew of the 
Hebrews — as touching the law, a Pharisee ; as touching the righteousness of the law, 
blameless? If henceforth there is to be no advantage to the Jew, and no profit in 
circumcision, what becomes of the promises, and the covenant with our fathers ? Has 
change happened to the Unchangeable ?" 

His quick apprehension of the stupendous bearing of so leveling and humbling a 
doctrine does credit to his sagacity. He may not have seized its full significance. It 
is hardly possible that he should, for in that brief sentence lay a potency which was 
destined to " lift up empires off their hinges, and turn the stream of centuries into 
new channels, and govern the ages." It was the beginning of a new epoch; the first 
assertion of a principle that should revolutionize the world ; the inauguration of a 
Christian Democracy, the equality of all men before God, — feebly, imperfectly and 
even falsely apprehended in our own Declaration of Independence, and the Revolu- 
tionary watch-words. Liberie^ Egalite, Fraternite, of infidel France, — but which in 
its ultimate triumph is pledged to the abolition of all forms of tyranny — the tyranny of 
thrones, and the worse tyranny of caste — Brahminical and every other — and the estab- 
lishment on the earth of a true solidarity of Universal Brotherhood. 

Certain it is, that in this initial discourse of our Lord there is a most unreserved and 
ample disclosure of all the distinctive doctrines of Christianity, a marvellous epitome, 
in fact, of the whole Gospel in its redemptive universality. 'The Teacher come from 
God ' appears at once in the majesty of His character as The Light of the World, 
and puts in believing hands — 

" The golden key 
Which opes the palace of eternity." 



THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 5 

" Rabbi ! Thou art a Teacher come, we know, 1°^^ 
From God, for this Thy wondrous doings show." 

Jesus, discemer of his thoughts, replied : 3 

" That which concerns you most I will not hide. 
Since I'm a Teacher come from God, hear then 
The Faithful and True Witness,'' the Amen ! 
Unless reborn'' no man, whate'er his birth, 
Can see the Reign of God upon the earth."* 

^Rev. iii. 14. •> i Peter i. 23. 

* Daniel in one place (ii. 44^, speaks of an indestructible Kingxiom, which the God of 
Heaven would set up ; in another place (vii. 13, 14), of an universal and everlasting 
Kingdom, to be given to One like the Son of Man. So the Prophet Micah (iv. 6, 7;, 
predicts a time when Jehovah would reign over the people in Mount Zion forever. 
Evidently from this Old Testament source comes the title, ' the Kingdom of God,' 
' the Kingdotn of Heaven,' (the Heavens, Gr.) or, ' the Kingdom,' simply — found in the 
New Testament, having common reference to the predicted Reign of Messiah the 
Prince (Dan. ix. 25). The Greek word, 7; j3a(n?.Eia, translated 'the kingdom,' means 
also ' reign.' Strictly speaking the English word, kingdo77i, refers solely to the/Aztv or 
region wheie the sovereignty is exercised, while reign has reference to the tuite or 
duration of it : Hence we say. The Kingdom of England and the Reign of Queen 
Elizabeth. While we can properly speak of a Reign as approaching, we can hardly 
do so of a Kingdom. In view of this admitted two-fold signification of the original, 
ample justification is afforded for the substitution of Reign for Kingdom, whenever it 
better suits the context and perspicuity calls for it. 

George Campbell's rendering of the clause, " He cannot see the Kingdom of God," 
is, " He cannot discern the Reign of God" — the thing predicated being man's inca- 
pacity, without a spiritual renewal, to perceive the Reign of God, so that even though 
the Reign had commenced, he would not be able to discover it, because spiritual 
things are only discerned by the spiritual. If a threat had been intended, no doubt 
the phrasing would have been future, and we should have had, "He shall not see 
[share or enjoy] the Kingdom of God." In the fifth verse, where the word "enter" 
occurs to modify the conception, the Kingdom of God would seem to be the fitter ren- 
dering. Seeing, and entering are, no doubt, closely connected, inasmuch as a right 
idea of the Kingdom must precede the participation and enjoyment of it. 

The word cva)i9fi', translated ' again,' is more literally rendered ^/rotii aiove^ 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Said Nicodemus : " Thy strange speech unfold — I/"" 
How can a man be bom when he is old ? 
Can he return into his mother's womb 
And be reborn, and a new life assume ?" 



And Jesus answering said : " Thou as a Jew s 

Canst claim no natural birth-right as thy due. 
The Holy Kingdom of which I am King 
Is not a secular and earthly thing — ^ 
Comes not with observation^ — no man's eye 
Its near and powerful coming can descry — 
No hosts are seen with banners high unfurled 
In onward march for conquest of the world — 
Not of this world, but pure and from above, 
A theocratic government of love — 
Regeneration of the soul within — 
Emancipation from the power of sin, 

° John xviii. 36. '' Luke xvii. 20, 21. 

''from heaven ; but the first is generally preferred as agreeing best, it is thought, with 
Nicodemus' words used in reply, " Can he enter a second time," etc. This, however, 
IS not conclusive, for if the asseveration had stopped at, " E.-vCcpt a man be bom" — the 
"second time" would be implied in the word 'born,' even if 'again' were not ex- 
pressed, as any future birth would necessarily be a second birth. It is possible that 
his mind was so filled with the idea of being born, that he lost sight of ever>'thing 
else. Of course, he knew if it took place, it must be a divine act, /. c, 'from above,' 
and therefore he may not have cared to emphasize that, as his chief difficulty did not 
lie so much in being born from above as in being born at all. 



THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 7 

Transcending nationality and place/^ jj°'^ 

It knows no limits but the human race.^ 
To Jew no more than Greek '' is title given 
To the exclusive citizenship'' of heaven. 

" Native to no immunities ol birth, 
My subjects are the good " of all the earth, 
Of every land the foot of man has trod — 
Born not of blood but of the will of God/ 
For what is born of flesh is flesh ; and what ^ 

Is spirit is spiritually begot. 

So marvel not at what I said to thee, 7 

Ye* must be born again before that ye 
Are qualified to enter that unseen 
Kingdom of all the sanctified and clean — 
Proud Israel like the rest. The viewless wind ^ 

Blows where it will in freedom u neon fined ; 
Thou hear'st the sound thereof, and feel'st the force, 
But canst not tell the secret of its source. 
So every one, with Heaven no more at strife, 

"Matt, xxviii. 19; Mark xvi. 15. '' Luke xxiv. 47. ' Rom. x. 12. 

■■Gal. iii. 28; Phil. iii. 20. « Acts x. 34. 'John i. 13. 

*Here as elsewhere, in the change from the singular to the plural, the version follows 
the original — the plural both in the first and second persons having reference probably 
to his representative character. 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

In whom the Spirit breathes the breath of life, ll-^^"_ 

Knows not, once dead in trespasses and sins,' 

Whence comes the breath, or how the Hfe begins — 

Born of the travail of a holy Grief, 

The quickening process of a true Belief — '' 

Of which baptism is the watery sign — 

Symbol of cleansing, and a birth divine : 

The washing of regeneration,'^ most 

Wondrous renewing of the Holy Ghost. 

John, My forerunner, has proclaimed the need 

Of something more than being Abraham's seed. 

Shaken the desert with the warning cry : 

' Repent ! the righteous Reign of Heaven is nigh.''' 

Ye must be born of water — not which flows 

In earthly channels, this no virtue knows — 

But of that water I to men impart, 

Which springs to life eternal'" in the heart. 

Born of the Spirit differs not from this ; 

They must be pure who are the heirs of bliss. 

To all who ask^ by unrespecting Heaven 

This universal Gift is freely given." 

Said Nicodemus: " How can these things be ? " 9 

"Eph. ii. I ; Col. ii. 13. i" i Peter i. 23 ; i John v. i. <= Titus iii. 5 ; Epli. v. 26. 
•^Matt iii. 2. "= John iv. 14. 'Lukexi. 13. 



THE KINGDOM OF GOD. o 

And Jesus answering said reproachfully : -j^^^^ 

" Art thou f/iL- teacher,* specially ordained, 
And need'st to have these simple truths explained ? 
We speak that which we know, and only state " 

What we have seen, and yet ye hesitate. 
If I have told you earthly things and near, ^- 

Plain mundane matters of this lower sphere. 
And ye believe not, prejudiced and blind, 
And stumble at My word with doubting mind, 
How will ye credit Me, when I report 
Things of a higher range and heavenly sort, — 
The mighty secrets of the Eternal Throne, 
Unseen, unheard of, ne'er conceived,'' unknown ? 
The power to climb to no man has been given, '3 

Th' inaccessible and holy heaven : 
But in Eternity and Time I dwell, — 
The Son of God, and Son of Man as well, — 
In both worlds present, nothing from Me hid, 
The Father purposed or the Father did. 
By pity moved, I have come down to tell 
How sinners may escape profoundest hell : 

"i Cor. ii. 9. 

*We arc told that the chief officers of the Sanhedrim were a President, Vice-Presi- 
dent and • i/ie Teacher' or Wise Man. Nicodemus is supposed to have been the latter, 
which accounts for our Lord's use of the definite article found in the original. 



lO THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

" As Moses lifted up for healing sight l^^^^ 

The serpent to the bitten Israehte, 
So shall the Son of Man uplifted be, 
Made sin that knew no sin,"" for remedy ; 
That none may perish who on Him believe, 's 

But pardon and eternal life receive. 
For God so loved the world of man, He gave '^ 

His sole begotten Son from death to save. 
He did not send His Son to judge the race, '? 

But on an errand of redeeming grace. 
He that believes is judged not for this cause ; ^^ 

He that believes not has by righteous laws 
Been judged already for transgressions done, 
Still more for grace rejected in the Son. ^9 

This is the judgment, when is come the light. 
Men love the darkness and prefer the night, 
Because their deeds are evil. Who does ill, '° 

He hates the light, avoids the light, and will 
Not come thereto, in unacknowledged fear 
Lest his iniquity should be made clear. 
But he that does the truth, that all may see ^^ 

His works are wrought in God, comes joyfully." 

"2 Cor. V. 21. 



THE KINGDOM OF GOD. u 



HYMN. 

Almighty God ! how small 

The accidents of birth ; 
Thine equal eye looks down on all 

Who dwell upon the earth. 

Who dwell upon the earth, 
The Gentile and the Jew, — 

All men alike, wherever found, 
Thy Spirit must renew. 

Thy Spirit must renew. 

Proud boasts of blood are vain ;— 
The lips of Truth to all declare, 

'Ye must be born again.' 

Ye must be born again. 
There is exception none ; 

Enlightened eyes alone can see 
The Kingdom of Thy Son. 



12 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

The Kingdom o£ Thy Son 
Set up the soul within, 

A heavenly rule of purity 
To make an end of sin. 

To make an end of sin, 

The work of grace complete, 

Inclining evermore the will 
To make obedience sweet. 

To make obedience sweet 
On us Thy Spirit shed ; 

O Holy Ghost, requicken us 
And raise us from the dead ! 

And raise us from the dead — 
Baptismal grace convey. 

And bless the water of the Word 
To wash our sins away. 

To wash our sins away 
True penitence impart ; 

And make us on the Crucified 
Believe with all the heart. 



THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 

Believe with all the heart 

Thou verily didst give 
Thy Son to die upon the cross 

That guilty souls may live. 

That guilty souls may live, 
And Christ not die in vain, 

May man, once in Thy likeness made, 
Thine image bear again. 

Thine image bear again, 

Original and whole, 
Enstamped upon his breast and brain, 

And mirrored in his soul. 

And mirrored in his soul, 

As in a lakelet lie 
The pictured purity and peace 

And glory of the sky. 



14 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



II. 

JOHN'S FINAL TESTIMONY. 

John in. 22-36. 



John 
iii. 22 



" EAVING Jerusalem, His heart aflame, 
— ' Jesus with His disciples elsewhere came 
Into Juclea, tarried there and taught, 
And there baptized, and works of mercy wrought. 
For that John also was baptizing, there ="3 

In .i^non near to Salim, region where 
There was much water needful to baptize, 
The two baptisms chanced to synchronize — 
For John was not imprisoned yet. Arose '* 

Therefore a question on the part of those, ^s 

Who John's disciples were, about the true 
Manner of purification with some Jew.* 
And so they said to John : 

" Rabbi, decide ! '^ 

He who was with thee on the other side 

* The Revised Version adopts the singular. 



JOHN^S FINAL TESTIMONY. 15 

Of Jordan, and to whom thou, since as then, l^^^ 

Bor'st witness, lo, baptizes, and all men 
Come thronging unto Him instead of thee — 
He from our fastings sets His followers free."* 

Th' unjealous John rebuking answer made — •.* 

With frank and noble truthfulness he said : 
" A man can naught receive except as given 
By the supreme authority of Heaven. 
Ye bear me witness, that I witness bore, ^^ 

I am not the Messiah, but before 
Him sent. His joyful coming to make known. 
He is the Heavenly Bridegroom, He alone ; ^9 

He has the bride ; I am the Bridegroom's friend, 
Who, hearing Him, rejoices without end 
Because of His dear voice. This Heaven me willed. 
And this my joy therefore is now fulfilled. 
He must increase while endless ages run ; 3° 

I must decrease, for now my work is done. 

* We are told (Mark ii. 18, and Luke v. 33), that the disciples of John fasted, and 
that the disciples of Jesus did not. May it not have been, therefore, that John en- 
joined fasting in connection with his baptism, and that its necessity as a concomitant 
of baptism formed the subject of dispute with some Jew who had been baptized by 
Christ's disciples without this fasting accompaniment? In the recently discovered 
document, "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,^' it is there enjoined that "the bap- 
tized yW^f^ for two or three days before baptism " — a practice which may possibly have 
seen borrowed from John. We know the undue importance attached to fasting by 
the Pharisees ; and the revival of this custom under the Christian Dispensation may 
be regarded as one of the many evidences of the early working of the Judaic leaven. 



l6 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

He heavenly is, who is of heavenl}- birth ; J^'^" 

And earthly he whose origin is earth. 

To earthly life but earthly speech is given ; 

High above all is He who speaks from Heaven. 

He testifies what He has seen and heard, 3=* 

And no man takes the warrant of His word. 

Who has received His witness, has set to 33 

His own believing seal that God is true. 

For He, who is God's own Ambassador, 34 

Speaks but the words of God, and cannot err 

God not by measure does the Spirit dole, 

But gives to Him th' immeasurable whole. 

The Father loves the Son, and in His hands 3s 

Has put all peoples, governments and lands. 

He that believes on His beloved Son 36 

Has everlasting life on earth begun : — 

He that believes not, life he shall not see, 

But on him rests God's frown unceasingly." 



JOHN'S FINAL TESTIMONY. 17 



THE HEAVENLY BRIDEGROOM. 

The fond youth thinks the maid he loves 
Sums all the beauty of the land ; 

But what of Him who shaped her brow, 
And ' the white wonder of her hand ' ? 

The earth and sky no doubt are fair, 
And ravishing to soul and sight : 

But fairer He who made them fair, 
And gave us organs of delight. 

The violet and the rose are sweet, 

But there 's a sweetness more intense — 

His sweetness, who Arabias made 
And odorous hills of frankincense. 

When from His orient chamber comes 
The Heavenly Bridegroom — bashful slips 

Behind a cloud the risen sun. 
Conscious of a divine eclipse. 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Thou, who art the Spouse of souls, 
With curtains of my window drawn, 

1 watch with wear}' hds to catch 
The earliest glimpses of Thy dawn. 

Dear absent Lord, make swift return ! 

My hungry heart faints from delay — 
Rise, Sun of Righteousness, now rise, 

And turn my night to happy day ! 




THE DIALOGUE AT JACOB'S WELL. 



19 



III. 

THE DL\LOGUE AT JACOB'S WELL. 

John iv. 1-42. 

T T THEN the Lord knew, His first and fiercest foes, 
V ▼ The Pharisees, were plotting to oppose — •{°''" 
Their minds inflamed with envy, having heard 
That Jesus, through His miracles and word, 
Was making and baptizing even more 
Disciples than was John, their dread before, 
(Although baptizing not Himself but His ^ 

Disciples) — He, who perfect wisdom is. 
Departed from Judea to go back 3 

To Galilee. As lying in His track, 4 

He needed to pass through Samaria, 
So came to Sychar, near which city lay s 

A plot of ground, old Jacob's present rare 
To his son Joseph. Jaco|)'s Well was there. ^ 

Here by the Well's side Jesus found a seat, 
Welcome to journeying and weary feet. 



20 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

The hour was sultry noon. He sat alone, |°^_^ 

Hungry and thirstv, His disciples gone ^ 

To buy food in the city. While away, 

A certain woman of Samaria 7 

Came to draw water. Jesus gently said : 

" Give Me to drink !" 

The woman answer made : ? 
" How is it Thou, a Jew, thus civilly, 
Dost ask the favor of a drink of me, 
A scorned Samaritan ?"* For Jews she knew 
With the Samaritans have naught to do. 

* The Samaritans, as we learn from 2 Kings xvii., were originally Assyrian colonists, 
made up of five idolatrous nations worshipping different gods, introduced after Israel 
was led away captive, B. C. 730. From being idolaters they became in course of time 
extremely zealous for the Mosaic law and ritual. Of the Sacred Writings they ac- 
knowledged the Pentateuch alone. Ignoring their heathen origin, they had come to 
claim descent from Joseph through Ephraim, to which some color was given by prob- 
able intermarriages with the native Israelites — a claim, however, which was con- 
temptuously rejected by the Jews, who were accustomed to speak of them as Cuthceans 
or Cuthites — a part of the original settlers having come from Cuthan, a place in the 
interior of Persia. The bitter feud, which had existed for centuries, was in full force 
in the time of Christ. In the mouth of a Jew the very name of a Samaritan was a re- 
proach ; and so, knowing no stronger form of objurgation, the maddened Jews at 
Jerusalem said to Jesus, " We know Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil." To take 
a mouthful of food which had been touched by a Samaritan was as defiling as eating 
the flesh of swine. No Samaritan was allowed to become a proselyte. They had been 
repeatedly anathematized and subjected to every form of excommunication. No bar- 
gain made with him was binding. His testimony was not to be taken in a Jewish 
court. To receive him into one's house would bring down the curse of Heaven. 

Jesus was infinitely superior to all this. Not only was His friendliness evinced on 
this occasion, but afterwards. When He cured the ten lepers, the only one who re- 
turned to thank Him was a Samaritan, or to use His own words, " this stranger " (an 
obiter dictum, implying a knowledge of his heathen non-Jewish origin, but mentioned 
only to emphasize His commendation). Another case in point is the beautiful Parable 
of the Good Samaritan. 



THE DIALOGUE AT JACOB'S WELL. 2 1 

Jesus said kindly : " Hadst thou known the gift i{,°''," 
Of God, and Who it is, and what His drift 
Who asks, thou wouldst have asked of Him, and He 
Would Kving water have bestowed on thee." 

The woman answered : " Sir, deep is the Well, " 
And Thou hast naught to draw with. Whence then 

tell. 
Hast Thou that living water? Art Thou more " 
Than Jacob was, our father, who of yore 
Gave us this Well, and hither used to come 
Himself, his sons, and herds, and drink therefrom ?" 

And Jesus said. His meaning to make plain : '3 

" Who of this water drinks shall thirst again. 
But whoso drinks of that which I shall give "* 

Shall never thirst : the same shall in him live, 
And be a well of water, springing rife 
From its deep source unto eternal life," 

The woman guessed, while quibbling with the sense,''5 
The words had mystic meaning and intense. 
But answered blindly : " Sir, give me, I pray, 
This water that I thirst not, neither may 
Come hither more to draw." 



22 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

He suddenly : Jf^^ 

" Go, call thy husband, and come here to Me !" 

" I have no husband," blushmgly she said, '7 

An honest answer seeking to evade. 

Jesus replied : " Thou hast said well ; for thou 
Hast had five husbands ; he whom thou hast now ^^ 
Is not thy husband. What thou say'st is true." 

Convinced by this, that this mysterious Jew ^9 

Was come from God ; and being now awake 
To know her future welfare was at stake ; 
Solicitous to know, if she were wrong 
In what she trusted and believed so long 
As a Samaritan, she first professed 
Her faith in Him, and Jesus thus addressed : 
" That Thou a Prophet art I must believe. 
And therefore think Thou wilt not me deceive 
Our fathers worshipped in this mountain ;* ye ^° 

Say in Jerusalem should men's worship be." 

* Gerizim is a mountain rising 2,500 feet above the level of the sea, and Soo feet 
above the surrounding plain, from the top of which can be seen the Mediterranean 
Sea on the West, the snowy heights of Hermon on the North, on the East the wall of 
the trans-Jordanic mountains, broken by the deep cleft of the Jabbok — a prospect 
unique in the Holy Land. It was memorable as the place designated by Moses for 
reading the /'/(•«/«^.s-, as the neighboring mountain Ebal was for the ci/ni/ii^ (Deut. 



THE DIALOGUE AT JACOB'S WELL. 23 

" Woman, believe Me," Jesus said to her, i^°^,° 

" An hour is coming when no worshipper, 

Xouching this mountain or Jerusalem, 

Shall deem the Father is confined to them. 

The God ye worship is a God half known,* ^^ 

The truth debased with fictions of your own. 

Although the Law of Moses ye respect. 

The Writings of the Prophets ye reject : 

The Oracles of God which ye refuse 

Are the divine possession of the Jews ; 

Whose are the promises, and promised Seed,'' 

Life and salvation which from Him proceed. 

^ Rom. ix. 4, 5. 

xxvii. 12, 13). To the Samaritans it was the most sacred spot on earth. Legend had 
made it the seat of Paradise, whence all the streams that watered the earth flowed. 
Adam had been formed from its dust, and had lived on it. It was here he built his 
first altar. It was the Ararat on which the Ark rested, and where Noah offered sac- 
rifice. It was the Moriah where Abraham made ready to offer up Isaac ; and it was 
here he met Melchisedek. Here Jacob slept and dreamed of the heavenly ladder. 
Here Sanballat, the Cuthite, having obtained leave from Alexander the Great, built 
a rival Temple, which, after it had stood 200 years, was destroyed by Hyrcanus, 129 
years before Christ. Thitherward every Samaritan turned his face when he prayed. 
The Messiah, he believed, would first appear on its summit. No wonder he held it 
sacred. 

It is remarkable that while the Jews no longer offer up bloody sacrifices, the Paschal 
Lamb has not ceased to be offered on Mount Gerizim down to the present time. 
What Jerusalem is to the Jew, and Mecca to the Mahometan, Gerizim is to the 
Samaritan. 

* Owing to their rejection of all later revelations made through the Prophets, and 
the lingering superstitions derived from their heathen origin and intercourse, the wor- 
ship of the Samaritans was both ignorant and corrupt — they worshipping, like the 
ancient Athenians and some modern mystics, they knew not what — a God of uncertain 
or unknown attributes. 



24 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

But this concerns the passing' and the past, j^^^j^ 

Things that wax old and were not meant to last. 

The hour is coming and is present now, ^ ^3 

When everywhere, true worshippers shall bow 

Knees of pure worship, and earth's common sod 

Be one vast Temple* dedicate to God. 

For such the Father seeks, who not in show, 

But truth and spirit worship Him below. 

God is a Spirit, nor can cheated be '* 

By the mere mockery of the bended knee. 

He not in pomp and postures takes delight. 

But humble hearts, believing and contrite." 

The woman hints her thought : " I know full well ^5 
When Christ is come. He will us all things tell." 

Jesus replied ; " God has enlightened thee — "^ 

Thou err'st not, 1 that speak to thee am He." 

While thus conversing. His disciples came, ^7 

Who saw with wonder not unmixed with blame 

* In teviplo vis orare ? in te era, sect prius esto te»i/>iu)n Dei. — Aug. 

In temple would'st thou pray ? 

Thou necd'st not go abroad — 
Pray in thyself, but previously, 

A temple be of God ! 



THE DIALOGUE AT JACOB'S WELL. 



25 



Their Master's condescension, doubly strange, j{°'^jl 

Because it was not usual to exchange 

Speech with a woman, breaking laws beside, 

The birth of Jewish prejudice and pride. 

Yet no man said — deep awe might well deter — 

" What seekest Thou ? Why speakest Thou with her ?" 

The excited woman left her water-pot ^8 

For the Lord's use, His asking not forgot. 
And went into the city, all on fire, 
Full of the news, and eager with desire, 
And said to every one she met: " Come, see ^9 

A man, who told me my whole history ! — 
Say, is not this the Christ ?" And therefore they 3° 
Went out to Him. 

While these were on the way — 31 
A thronging, dense, and waving multitude — 
All the disciples prayed Him to take food. 
Because just then sweet thoughts His spirit fed, 
He felt no appetite for common bread. 
So spake refusal : " I have food to eat 32 

Ye know not of. Ask ye who brought me meat ? 
My meat and joy it is to do the will 34 

Of Him who sent Me, and His work fulfill. 



26 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Say ye the harvest is four months away ?* il!^^". 

Lift up your eyes, look on the fields, for they 

Are white already. To My scattered seed, 

Behold, how quick a harvest doth succeed, 

That waits your reaping ! He that reaps 36 

Receives good wages in the garnered heaps 

Of golden fruit he gathers unto life 

Eternal, with celestial glory rife. 

His joy and crown"^ forever — so that He 

Who sows, and he who reaps shall endlessly 

Rejoice together. For the saying 's true, 37 

' One sows, another reaps.' Lo ! I send you 38 

To reap the ripe results of others' toil. 

Who ploughed and planted and prepared the soil." 

Many of the Samaritans were led 39 

To trust because of what the woman said — 
' He told me all T ever did ' — and some 
Later believed when they had to Him come ; +° 

^ Phil. iv. I ; I Thess. ii. 19, 20. 

* If this is to be literally understood as referring to the actual harvest, it would make 
the time somewhere about December ; and would go to show that the Lord's stay in 
Judea had been about eight months. Noon in Palestine even in December is often, it 
is said, warm even to sultriness. 



THE DIALOGUE AT JACOB'S WELL. 27 

And many more, when they had further heard, i{°^^^ 
BeUeved on Him because of His own word : 
" We know," they said — be sails to bear unfurled — •♦^ 
" This is the Christ, the Saviour of the World I" 



HYMN. 

John iv. 21-23 ; Acts xvii. 24-28. 

They err who think that God is far — 
That I must climb from star to star, 
Through mighty intervals of space, 
To reach His awful dwelling place. 

I put the shoes from off my feet ; 
I go not forth my God to meet ; 
For God is everywhere, and here. 
Here in this place to make it dear. 

Long time I groped and could not find. 
For light is darkness to the blind ; 
How sweet to feel now He is found, 
His everlasting arms around ! 



28 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Upon His bosom thus to rest, 
I cannot ask to be more blest. 
To know my sins are all forgiven 
For Jesus' sake, O this is heaven ! 

While I love Him, and He loves me, 
I care no other heaven to see : 
And, if there be some higher bliss, 
I am content while I have this. 

And there are those beyond the wave. 
Whom Christ came down on earth to save 
O let me haste to make it known, 
My God and Saviour is their own ! 



REJECTION AT NAZARETH. 29 



IV. 

REJECTION AT NAZARETH. 

John iv 43-54; Luke iv. 16-31. 

HIS two days' stay at Sychar ended, He ^{?^^^ 

Departed thence and entered Galilee- 
Avoiding Nazareth, because He knew 
According to the proverb it was true, 44 

A prophet has no honor in his home. 
Then when He into Galilee was come, 45 

The Galileans — having all things seen 
Done at Jerusalem, they having been 
Themselves at the Passover feast — received 
Him as a Prophet, and on Him believed. 
So Jesus came again to Cana where 46 

He made the water wine. A noble there 
Of Herod's household, hearing He had come, 47 

Asked Him to hasten to Capernaum, 
To heal his son,* now at the point of death. 

Then Jesus said, with sad rebuking breath, 48 

*The definite article before son — in the original " the son of him" — indicates that it 
was an onfy son. 



30 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

" Except ye signs and wonders see, ye doubt — -1°^^ 
Blessed is he who shall believe without." 

The noble made inconsequent reply : 49 

" Sir, come down quickly or my child will die." 

" The boon thou askest," Jesus said, " I give ; 5° 
Go thou thy way, thy son shall surely live." 

The man believed the word, and, as he went, 
The servants met him, for the purpose sent, si 

To tell him his son lived. When told the hour 52 
Of healing tallied with that word of power, 
Himself believed and all his house ; for none ss 

Doubted a mighty miracle was done. 

Divine the power, but with a higher aim 
Than to amaze by miracles he came. 
" O not for this was I sent forth," He said, 
"But in your cities to proclaim instead, 
The Gospel of the Kingdom, Then begins 
The Reign of Heaven when you forsake your sins." 
He taught in all their synagogues and preached, f;}^^^. 
Honored of all. In His own time, He reached 
His native Nazareth — thus kindly late, '^ 

To strip contempt, so quickly changed to hate, 
(Offspring of prejudice that shuts its eyes 
To worth familiar though it reach the skies) 



Mark 
i. 38 



Matt, 
iv. 17 



REJECTION AT NAZARETH. 31 

Of all excuse, when to His well known name ?;"^ 

Was joined a wonderful and mighty fame. 

As was His custom, on the Sabbath day 
He went into the synagogue, and they 
Placed in His hands to read the sacred Scroll, '7 

Which he forthwith proceeded to unroll, 
xA.nd in Isaiah lighted on the place, 
Where were recorded those sweet words of grace : 

' The Spirit of the Lord upon Me rests ; ^^ 

And, by a heavenly unction, Me invests 
With power to preach glad tidings to the poor ; 
To heal the broken-hearted*; and assure 
Deliverance to the captives ; to restore 
Light to the blind ; and limbs, long bruised and sore. 
Broken with heavy fetters, to set free ; 
And sound the gracious Year of Jubilee.' '9 

And rolling up the writing as before, ''° 

He to the servant handed it once more. 
And then sat down to teach* — in nothing odd 
Observing custom though the Son of God. 

All eyes were fastened on Him ; every ear 
In the whole synagogue was bent to hear. 

* The Rabbis always sai when teaching. 



32 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

" This ancient Scripture," He began to say, ?;"^i 

" Has in your hearing been fulfilled to-day." . . . 
The rest is wanting — those dear words of grace, =^ 
At Avhich each wondered, sitting in his place, 
Full of all comfort, mighty to convince, 
Worth all that has been said or written since. 

Ah, foolish Nazarenes ! had ye but known 
Your time of visitation, and not thrown 
Your golden opportunity away ! 
While with closed eyelids ye shut out the day, 
What wonder that ye stumbled at broad noon. 
Rejecting your Messiah, and the boon 
Of peace and pardon, life and liberty. 
And bliss extending through eternity, 
He offered and persuaded you to take ! 
Ye listened to the gracious words He spake. 
Bore witness to their power, and marvelled much. 
But all the while your hearts they failed to touch. 
Ye should have known Him best, for Him ye knew 
Through all those blameless years in which He grew 
In favor both with God and man. Ye saw 
In Him exemplified the breadth of law, 
The miracle of superhuman grace 



REJECTION AT NAZARETH. ^^ 

Stamped on His conduct, shining in His face. J;;"^ 
Through all the years ye knew Him, testify 
If ye e'er heard those pure lips tell a lie. 
How durst ye then distrust His solemn word ? 
How doubt the truth of what ye must have heard ? 
How leaving Nazareth He straightway went 
Where John was warning all men to repent, 
Because the heavenly Reign of Christ was nigh, 
And was baptized in Jordan ? — How the sky 
Was rent asunder, what time from above 
The Holy Ghost descended as a dove 
And lighted on Him, while a Voice Divine 
Declared the meaning of the heavenly sign, 
Saying, ' Lo, this is My Beloved Son, 
Whom herewith I anoint, the Anointed One — 
Christ, by the investure of My Spirit's chrism. 
And consecrating rite of this baptism I ' 
Though it be true, He is, as you aver. 
The Son of Mary, and a Carpenter, '^ 

The hands that work, mechanical and mean. 
May in God's sight be honorable and clean. 
Than His credentials whose could be more clear ? 
How foolish then and impious the sneer ! 

But yet more daring your insulting taunt — 

3 



34 THE LIGHT OF THt: WORLD. 

" Physician, heal Thyself, else vain Thy vaunt 



t Luke 

iv. 23 



What we have heard done in Capernaum, 
Do also here, now Thou at last hast come ! 
Give Thy consent, and we will fix a day 
To give Thee chance for mountebank display — 
To work some miracle, that we may know 
Thou canst make God the puppet of a show ! 
Our claim is greatest, here Thy works repeat, 
Else we 're prepared to brand Thee as a cheat !" 

" So long as you exclude Me from your heart," 
The Saviour said, " I can no grace impart. 
All power to do you good away is swept-' 
While you refuse the Prophet to accept. 
I come to your inhospitable door 
And ask admittance — what can I do more ? 
At the low portal, lo, I stand and knock — '^ 
I cannot pass unless I break the lock. 
Though Heaven is gracious, Heaven is sovereign too. 
Ye must not ask as if the least were due. 
On proud unthankful greed should God convey 
Ten thousand worlds, the gift were thrown away. 
God's grace and goodness never were confined 

■Matt. xiii. 58. '' Rev. iii. 20. 



REJECTION AT NAZARETH. 35 

To a few bigots, but embraced mankind. l;^^l 

So He of old, His saving help made known ^5 

Among the Gentiles, passing by His own. 

Be not puffed up ! I, of a truth, you tell, 

There many widows were in Israel, 

When reigned a famine o'er the land's extent 

To none of these yet was Elijah sent, ''^ 

But to a woman of Sarepta, who 

A Gentile was : And many lepers too =^7 

Were living in Elisha's time, but none 

Was cleansed save Naiiman alone." 

They heard thus far, and then would hear no more.^^ 
And all was howling rage and wild uproar. 
No more a grave assembly but a mob. 
The turgid arteries were seen to throb 
In their flushed temples ; all their eyes shot fire ; 
Their frenzied blood was hot with one desire 
To kill Him instantly. They thrust Him out, ^^ 

And drag Him roughly by the nearest route 
To the hill's brow, whereon the city stood, 
To hurl Him headlong down. Though Jesus could 
Have palsied with all ease each lifted arm, 
And thus preserved Himself from threatened harm. 



36 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

He never exercised His matchless power 

To save Himself in danger's darkest hour. 

Goodness has majesty and fear and awe 

To cow the wretches that defy the law ; 

The knees of coward Guilt have often shook 

At the dissolving terror of a look. 

No form of outrage Jesus would resist, 

No menace and no malice of the fist, 

Till now, when putting on a sterner mien, 

He looked the God, and turned His eyes serene 

Upon His would-be murderers, who quailed 

And falling back let Him pass unassailed. 

Weep, Nazareth ! Thy endless loss deplore ! 
Thy unprized Lord shall dwell in thee no more ; 
In all thy habitations is dark night 
Now He is gone elsewhere who was thy light. 

And Jesus came, not pausing on the road, 
And in Capernaum fixed His abode. 



Luke 



REJECTION AT NAZARETH. 37 



The voice of Mercy calls aloud, 
But, deaf to all persuasion, 

Men, heedless of the offered grace, 
Let slip the one occasion. 

Alas ! that mortals should not know 

Their time of visitation, 
But, madly rushing down to death, 

Reject the great Salvation. 

When opportunity is past. 
And time returneth never. 

How sad to know, it might have been 
But shall not be forever ! 



"The figure, veiled and sad, of Judea the Captive, on the Roman coin minted when 
Titus conquered Palestine, seems the image of a remorse that had wasted opportunity, 
and of a despair that had cancelled grace." — William R. Williams, D. D. 



38 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



V. 



ABODE AT CAPERNAUM.— APOSTOLATE. 

Matt. iv. 18-22; Mark i. 16-20; Luke v. i-ii. 

/'~\ THOU to whom such happiness is given! 

^-^ Exalted thus above the towers of heaven ! 
Made now the stated dwelling place of Him, 
Whose radiant presence makes the daylight dim 
Thy humblest hovel and thy meanest street 
Shine with the lustre of His passing feet. 
With frequent coming every lowly door 
Is lovely with a light undreamt before. 
Hide thy diminished head, Jerusalem ! 
Rome, wear no more an eclipsed diadem ! 
Let haughty Cassar lay his sceptre by 
And here before a greater prostrate lie ! 
Lord of all worlds, He reigns by love alone ; 
Makes willing hearts the pillars of His throne ; 
Asserts His Godhead by forgiving sin. 
And throws His miracles of healing in ; 



ABODE AT CAPERNAUM— APOSTOLATE. 39 

Before th' omnipotence of heavenly grace 
Lo, Satan's empire totters to its base. 
Improve, Capernaum, thy honor well, 
Lest raised to heaven thou be cast down to hell ! 

Since all His mighty merits were designed 
To benefit and bless and save mankind ; 
His words of wisdom and His works of power 
Which crowded every day and every hour, 
Were meant for proof, not for Capernaum, 
But for all places, in all times to come ; 
'Twas needful Heaven some method should contrive, 
To keep the memory of these alive — 
Provide or find some healthy weft of nerve. 
Keen to perceive and faithful to preserve 
Each fine pulsation of melodious breath, 
The tone and tint of everything He saith, 
That nothing may be lost — some honest ear, 
With scope of function open, chaste, and clear. 
To entertain the sweetness of that Voice, 
Which makes th' inhabitants of heaven rejoice. 
Discoursing wisdom, soothing hearts that ache 
With words of comfort such as man ne'er spake — 
Some eye to witness, and some hand to pen 



40 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

The mighty doings of this Man of men ; 
Unconscious skill and artless art to paint 
This more than Hero and this more than Saint ; 
Careful to let no single trait escape 
Of the Eternal God in human shape. 

So Jesus pleased to call and to ordain 
( Else he had mostly lived and died in vam ) 
Twelve men to the Apostleship, and sought 
The simple and the teachable untaught — 
Not lettered Scribe incorrigibly wrong — 
As those most fit to go with Him along, 
By day and night be with Him and abide, 
Eating with Him and sleeping by His side, 
Attendant on His footsteps to the end, 
To talk with Him as friend would talk with friend, 
Sit at His feet, and hear and keep in mind 
The sayings of the Oracle enshrined — 
Instructed thus, thus qualified to bear 
Authentic oral witness everywhere. 
While some should by th' imperishable page, 
Hand down the published grace from age to age. 

Behold Twelve Witnesses, no two the same. 
Unlike in mind and person as in name. 



ABODE AT CAPERNAUM— A POSTOLATE. 41 

While they agree in everything they say 

'Tis in a natural and human way — 

Like the Evangelists, who speak as Four 

In their own manner, and do nothing more. 

No matter that the infidel insists 

On contradictions in th' Evangelists, 

While the Evangel does itself contain 

No warring parts, then is th' objection vain — 

All beauty and perfection therein lie, 

All specks are in the scoffer's evil eye. 

The willing winds had borne His matchless fame. 
The pure report and wonder of His name. 
From o'er the Jordan to the Midland Sea, 
And from Judea unto Galilee. 
But hitherto, although on every side 
Disciples had increased and multiplied, 
Jesus, by no authoritative choice. 
Had called Him Prophets of the Pen and Voice ; * 
Till now the time had come to separate 
Fit persons wholly to th' Apostolate. 



*Rev. Wm. R. Williams, D.D., in his Lecture on John the Baptist aptly designates 
him as Prophet of the Voice in contradistinction from Prophet of the Pen. 



42 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

As walking by the Lake's delightful shore 
He Simon saw ( whom He had named before 
Peter) and Andrew, Simon's brother — yet 
Plying their trade, about to cast a net 
Into the sea, for they were fishers. He 
Gave royal summons : " Come ye after Me, 
And I will make you, former skill to match. 
Fishers of men, immortal souls to catch ! " 
And they forsook their nets without delay, 
And followed Him. Then He, a little way 
Proceeding, saw two other brothers, James 
And John, the sons of Zebedee, — dear names 
Well-known already — mending nets ; and He 
Called them ; and they, their father Zebedee 
Left in the boat, and went, forsaking all, 
Swift to obey so powerful a call. 
Of His Apostles these elected four 
Were first and earliest, soon He added more. 



Matt, 
iv. i8 



ABODE AT CAPERNAUM— APOSTOLATE. 43 

High thanks to Thee we owe, O Christ ! 

For Thy dear servants of the pen — 
Apostle and Evangelist — 

Whereby Thou art made known to men. 

They tell us all Thou saidst and didst ; 

And all Thy glorious goodness show ; 
Make Thee a presence in our midst, 

Acting and speaking here below. 

We sit beside Thee at the sea ;' 

We're made companions of Thy walk ; 

Our hearts within us burn, while we 
In silence listen to Thy talk. 

We learn the lesson of Thy looks, 
And are encouraged to draw near ; 

More than the lore of all the books, 
Thy welcome whispered in our ear. 

When Thy sweet lips forgiveness speak, 
And we can claim Thee as our Friend, 

Naught more in heaven or earth we seek, 
Our wants and wishes have an end. 



^ THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



I. 21 



VI. 

HEALER AND SAVIOUR. 

Mark i. 21-34: Luke iv. 31-41 : Matt. viii. 14-17. 

^p^HEY went into Capernaum. Short rest ^l^^^ 

-» Followed long labor, and He woke refreshed. 
And on the Sabbath, wrapt in holy thought, 
He came into the synagogue, and taught. 
Not as the Scribes, but with authority — 
And they were all astonished. Suddenly, 
A frenzied shriek was heard, loud, piercing, shrill, 
Expressing terror, making hearts stand still — 
A demonical, unearthly cry — 
And when all turned to learn the reason why. 
There stood a maniac. His body shook ; 
Out of his eyes a demon seemed to look ; 
His features worked convulsively ; his speech 
Was less a voice, than an infernal screech 
Belonging to another — some foul fiend, 
That there mysteriously had introvened. 



HEALER AND SAVIOUR. 45 

Usurping function, putting powers of soul '^^^l'' 

And body under devilish control — 

Using the passive organs as his own, 

Saying with borrowed breath, " Let us alone ! ^•^ 

For what have we to do with Thee? Comest Thou 

Jesus of Nazareth to judge us now ? 

Drive us not hence with Thy destroying rod — 

1 know Thee well. Thou Holy One of God ! " 

Jesus rebuked him, saying, " Hold thy peace ! ^s 
Come out of him ! " His power about to cease, 
The demon threw him down upon the floor ^^ 

With cries of rage, Avhile wild contortions tore 
Each muscle of the frame, and strange grimace 
Gave hideous expression to the face. 
Then straightway all was peaceful and serene. 
How sweet is health ! how holy ! and how clean ! 

And they were all amazed at what occurred. =7 

What truth of doctrine ! majesty of word ! 
Clothed with divine authority and power, 
Unwitnessed, unimagined till this hour — 
His high command the unclean spirits hear, ^^ 

And instantly obey with trembling fear. 



46 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Leaving the synagogue, the five straightway ^^^^ 
Into the house of Simon went, where lay 
Abed the stricken mother of his wife, 3° 

Sick with a fever dangerous to. life. 
And they on her behalf to Him appealed— 31 

The fever He rebuked and she was healed ; 
Then rising she with hospitable speed 
Prepared them food to satisfy their need. 32 

At the cool season of the setting sun. 
His hot career through torrid skies now run, 
They bring to Him all that are sick, and those 
Possessed with demons, and the concourse grows 
Till the whole city's gathered at the door. 33 

He many heals, and man)^ demons more 34 

Casts out, not suffering them to testify. 
For that their truth was rancorous as a lie. 

Alas ! how many are the foes of man, 
That lie in wait and his destruction plan. 
From the first moment that he draws his breath, 
Around him are the instruments of death. 
Most fearfully and wonderfully made, 
The quick frame trembles of itself afraid, 
Lest in each nerve the penalty be felt 



HEALER AND SAVIOUR. 

Of broken law inevitably dealt, 

And the betrayed and suffering organs rise, 

And force unwilling groans to reach the skies. 

A million shames and guilt of suicide 

Attach to such, who thus throw open wide 

The doors of penal pain and earthly hells ; 

But towards these also heavenly pity swells. 

While much is due to ignorance and sin, 

And lusts that burn incessantly within. 

Disease has other causes. No defense 

Can make quite safe the child of innocence. 

No life is new, original and fresh. 

Some latent weakness of the new-born flesh. 

Some old ancestral tendency or taint 

May make the whole head sick, the whole heart faint- 

The germ in former generations sown, 

Growing in darkness, suddenly made known 

In torments manifold. Lo, thence arise 

Dumbness, convulsions, palsies, lunacies — 

Perverted function of the brain and nerves, 

When will for government no longer serves, 

Leaving the temple hallowed and sweet 

Open to the abominable feet 

Of unclean spirits. Not when doors are barred, 



47 



48 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

And all the ministers of Health keep guard, 
Can these find entrance, nor can longer stay 
After that power resumes her broken sway. 
But Health though armed is vulnerable still, 
Not wholly proof against the darts of ill — 
No panoply of most impenetrable steel 
Can save the flying unprotected heel. 
When stalks the Pestilence, naught can disperse 
The dark, unknown, imponderable curse — 
Th' unavoidable and needful air 
Purveys the poison, and men drink despair. 
Dread Epidemics fill the land with woe, 
Then o'er the sea to distant regions go. 
These pass away, and may not come again. 
While chronic plagues, like Leprosy, remain — 
Type and superlative of all that 's vile. 
Whose neighborhood suffices to defile, 
Compelled to warn approaching feet when seen 
To stand afar and cry, " Unclean ! unclean !" 

The scaly horror when it first begins 
Is often but a spot on fairest skins : 
By slow degrees, the multiplying scab 
Spreads o'er the whole, and worse succeeds to bad, 



HEALER AND SAVIOUR. 49 

Till it becomes to the disgusted sight 
A leprous surface hideously white. 
The hair falls off ; nails loosen ; fingers, toes, 
Shrivel and rot ; teeth disappear ;• eyes, nose. 
Tongue, palate, are consumed ; beneath the cope 
No remedy, the sepulchre of hope. 
This grave of beauty, dreadful to record, 
This death in life, so loathsome and abhorred. 
Has its own ghastly counterpart within — 
The moral death and leprosy of Sin. 

O double Saviour from a double death ! 
Vicarious Sufferer ! — as Isaiah saith, 
" Himself took our infirmities and bore v^if"'? 

Our sicknesses " — what could His love do more ? 
He saved the sinner and He healed the sick — 
The blind, the deaf, the dumb, the lunatic, — 
At His own cost : the leper white as snow 
Released from his hereditary woe, 
By virtue which went out of Him- — with pain 
And vital loss offsetting vital gain — 
Payment of penalty, relieving Grace 
Obliged to suffer in the sufferer's place. 
4 



so 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

" My Father works," said Jesus, " and I work." J°^j" 
He paid no heed to Pharisaic quirk. 
Still doing good upon the Sabbath day, 
In His unparalleled and Godlike way. 
Never did hours bear up on loaded wings 
So vast a weight and multitude of things : 
Enough of mercy in this day appears 
For celebration through a thousand years. 

Matt. viii. 2-4 ; Mark i. 35-45 ; Luke iv. 42-44: v. 12-16. 

Rlsing up early, long before 't was light, ^l^^^ 

Lengthening the day by cutting short the night, 
He went to pray out in a lonely place. 
Not for Himself but for the human race. 
And Simon followed with the other three, 3^ 

And having found Him, said: "All seek for Thee!" 37 
And when they would have stayed Him, He said, "No! 
Into the neighboring cities let us go 
That I may preach the Kingdom of God there : 
To them I also must the Good News bear. 
For this end came I forth, for this am sent. 
To save from coming wrath and punishment." 



As He was entering a certain town, 
A leper came to Him, and kneeling down 



Luke 
V. 12 



Mark 
i. 40 



HEALER AND SAVIOUR. 5I 

Besought Him, saying, " If Thou wilt. Thou, Lord, ^['^^ 

Canst make me clean." He moved with pity toward -' 

The wretched outcast, shrunk not back, averse, 

From the contagious foulness of the curse, 

But stretching forth His hand, him touched, and said, 

" I will. Be clean !" Immediately he shed 42 

The leprous slough, and over his whole frame 

The skin all soft and beautiful became. 

Jesus charged sternly : " Tell no man, but go, 43 

And do what Moses has commanded, show 44 

Thee to the priest, that he may search for trace 

And make the offerings ordered in such case, 

For proof to all the cleansing is complete !" 

He, disobedient and indiscreet, 45 

Blazed it abroad, with the effect to draw 

Great crowds about His steps as He foresaw. 

Hindering His heavenly work to that degree. 

That He could no more enter openly 

The cities, but in desert places preached, 

Where nevertheless great multitudes Him reached. 

Matt ix. 2-8 Mark: ir. 1-12 ; Luke v. 17-26. 



Returning to Capernaum once more 
The glad waves sent dear welcome to the shore. 



Mark 
ii. I 



52 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

When it was noised He was again at home— fl^^ 

And a great number had together come, ^ 

Who thronged the entrance of the house and street, 
While He addressed them loving words and sweet — 
Behold a paralytic borne of four 3^ 

Was brought to Him. Because of the blocked door 
Not able to come nigh Him, they the roof + 

Uncovered where He was ; and with this proof 
Of their strong trust in the Great Healer, they 
Let down the bed whereon the sick man lay. 
And when this evidence of faith He saw 5 

In bearer and in borne, in tones of awe 
As if God spoke, discerning deeper need 
Than even that for which they came to plead — 
Desire of pardon, hope and fear combined, 
With penitence and humbleness of mind — 
He to the sick man said : " Be of good cheer. 
Thy sins forgiven are !" And sitting near ^ 

Were Scribes, who said within themselves, "This man 7 
Blasphemes. Why speaks He in this wise ? Who can 
Forgive men's sins but God alone ?" And He, ^ 

Their thoughts discerning, said : " Wherefore do ye 
Think evil in your hearts ? For of the two, 
Whether is it more easy in your view ? 



HEALER AND SAVIOUR. 53 

To say, ' Thy sins forgiven are !' or, ' Rise, ^^^ 

And walk !* But that the Son of Man likewise '° 

Has power on earth sins to forgive, thus know — 

I say, 'Arise, take up thy bed and go " 

Unto thy house !' " The palsied man straightway '^ 

Arose, and took up that whereon he lay, 

And went to his own house. O'erwhelmed with awe. 

All said, " The like of this we never saw. 

'T is meet we glorify the God of Heaven, 

Who unto men such wondrous power has given." 



54 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 
GRATITUDE. 

PsALRi cm. 1-5. 

O bless the Lord, my soul ! 

Let all within me bless ! 
Join, all my powers, in psalms of praise 

And hymns of thankfulness ! 

O bless the Lord, my soul ! 

Let memory awake. 
And think of all His benefits 

And grateful mention make ! 

Who all thy sins forgives, 

All thy diseases heals ; 
Who saved thy life from threatened death, 

And for thee pity feels. 

Who gives thee pleasant food. 

And makes an end of pain. 
So, like the eagle, is renewed 

Thy faded youth again. 

Then bless the Lord, my soul ! 

Let all within me bless ! 
Join, all my powers, in psalms of praise 

And hymns of thankfulness ! 



THE NEW DISPENSATION— THE SABBATH. 



55 



VII. 

THE NEW DISPENSATION— THE SABBATH. 

Matt. ix. 9-13; Mark 11. 13-17; Luke v. 27-32. 

HE, wanting space, again the seaside sought, j^^j*^ 
And the assembled multitude there taught. 
Passing along the shore He saw a man ^4 

Of priestly lineage, a publican, 

Levi, son of Alpheus, better known ^"^^ 

As Matthew — scorned and hated of his own 
Because of his vocation — sitting there 
At the receipt of custom, toll-booth, where 
Were Roman toll and tax and tribute paid. 
To choose a publican, an outcast Jew, 
Would be a scandal well the Saviour knew — 
But He, Who could his inner fitness see, 
Paused not a moment, saying, " Follow Me ! " 
And he arose, obedient to the call, ^^ 

And forthwith followed Him, forsaking all. 

After this Levi made Him a great feast ^ 

In his own house. The feasters were increased 



^6 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

By publicans and sinners, who sat down ^"^ 

With Him and His disciples — viewed with frown 

And murmured disapproval, open sneer, 3° 

And wrathful whisper hissed into the ear, 

By watching Scribes and Pharisees, who came 

Only to make malignant search for blame. 

" Why eats your Master with these persons vile," 

They say to them, "and thus Himself defile? " 

He, overhearing, said: "They that are whole 31 

Need no Divine Physician of the soul, 

Only the sick, I did not come to call 32' 

Th' already pure, but sinners one and all. 

But go and learn what meaning therein lies : 

* I will have mercy and not sacrifice.' " 

Matt. ix. 14-17: Mark ii. 18-22: Luke v. 33-39. 

Certain of John's disciples asked : " For what 33 
Do we fast oft and Thy disciples not?" 
And Jesus said : " Of grief is fasting born. 34 

Can children of the bridal chamber mourn 
While yet the Bridegroom's with them ? Fast will 
they, 35 

When He is taken finally away. 
No man is so unwise as to attach 36 



THE NEW DISPENSATION— THE SABBATH. 



57 



To an old garment an unshrunken patch, ^"'!! 

Formed of new cloth unfulled, which cannot mend, 

But only take from it and farther rend. 

Neither do men put new wine* into skins 3? 

Old, yeasty, soaked, and sour, for then begins 

At once in the sweet must, intestine strife, 

A festering death with mimicry of life. 

♦That by the term "new wine," must is meant, can hardly admit of a doubt. In 
Luther's translation here as elsewhere, "new wine" is invariably rendered must. The 
meaning of must as defined by all the Dictionaries is "new wine, wine pressed from 
the grape but not/ermentcii." — Imperial Dictionary. The two terms (/. c, new wine 
and must\ are used interchangeably in all the books, and this of itself is conclusive, 
that wine to be wine need not be fermented. Here, unless by new wine, the unfer- 
mented article be understood, the illustration is emptied of all force and propriety. 
Why does "no man put new wine into old bottles " ? Plainly because if new or unfer- 
mented wine were put into old bottles (bottles previously used\ they would be sure to 
contain some of ihe. yeasty remains of their- former contents, and so induce fermenta- 
tion, causing a rending of the bottles, the yeast present having its moral counterpart 
in the Judaic leaven which later was the means of schism in the Christian Church, for 
an account of which see Paul's Epistle to the Galatians throughout. New wine is 
unleavened ^'vnz. Now if unleavened bread is bread, by parity of reason, unleavened 
wine is wine. The grape juice and the dough have undergone precisely the same 
change, for znnous fermentation and/(i«ar_j/ fermentation are identical ; but while in 
the one case the alcohol generated is retained, in the other it is driven off entirely by 
the heat of the oven. It is true, that when wine is spoken of, fermented wine is usual- 
ly meant, just as in the case of bread, but there is no usus loquendi, quite the contrary, 
which forbids us calling the unleavened varieties, wine and bread. 

Webster's Dictionary (last edition, not the earlier ones), makes wine a general term, 
like cider, defining it as "///f c.xf>ressed juice of grapes, usually the fermented juice." 
Those Dictionaries which confine the word wine to the fermented article alone, sup- 
ply manifestly an imperfect definition, and are moreover inconsistent with themselves, 
for turning to the word Must, these same Dictionaries (the Imperial, for example), 
give as its meaning, " nc-M wine, wine pressed from the grape but not fermented," 
which is an undeniable example of the use of the word in another sense, the sense 
contended for. So if we consult the Latin and Greek Lexicons, they all agree in de- 
fining the Latin, 3/«j/«w, and its Greek equivalent, y7.EVK.og, as"newwz«f." For 
a fuller discussion, sec pp. 208-234 of this Work, Part First. 



58 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Raging and furious gases therein pent 

Boil, hiss, and heave, and struggle to get vent, 

Till the distending bottles burst at last. 

And the spoiled liquor on the ground is cast. 

But when new wine is put in bottles new, 

Then sealed, no fermentation can ensue — 

The vital poise maintained, by nothing swerved, 

Contents and bottle are alike preserved. 

In John's disciples, as in Pharisee, 
The roots had struck of a fond fallacy, 
That bodily affliction was an end — 
And so they found it hard to comprehend. 
That painful fastings, which did not express 
Some sacred grief, were vain and profitless. 
When men had come to hug the form, mistake 
The shadow for the substance, and to make 
The number of the fastings the chief test 
(3f character — accounting them the best 
Who fasted oftenest, and every sign 
Had grown more meaningless and less divine, — 
'T was proof the time for terminating type 
And cumbrous ritual was already ripe. 
" Lo ! I," Jehovah says, "make all things n3w ! " 



Lukt 

V. — 



THE NEW DISPENSATION— THE SABBATH. 

And Christ is here to make the promise true. 
The old, Hke an old garment quite outworn 
And past all patching, ragged, rent, and torn. 
Is cast aside, each fragment and each shred, 
So that the new may be all new instead — 
A seamless vesture, glorious as the sun, 
Immortal looms employed to make it one. 

Foolish incongruous mixings are not meet 
Of new with old, the fresh with the effete, 
The sweet with sour, the living with the dead. 
The Heavenly Bridegroom is already wed 
To a new bride. When death has made divorce, 
Must He be tied forever to a corse ? 
A little leaven leavens without end, 
Corrupts the pure, and mighty is to rend. 
Like specks of rottenness too small to see, 
The rot and leaven of the Pharisee, 
And later taint of a dead Judaism, 
The baneful cause of rupture and of schism. 

Christ does not supplement, but supersede — 
Both Jew and Gentile are from Moses freed. 
He does not mend or piece, but weaves a whole, 
And in a clean sweet body pours a soul. 



59 

Luke 
V. — 



6o THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

No man, the slave of custom, it is true, 
Used to the old, straightway desires the new. 
Saying, the old is better. But while none 
Of all the prophets greater is than John, 
He is still greater, better taught, more free, 
Who knows the perfect law of liberty. 

John v. 1-47. 

A Jewish feast was nigh, and Jesus went 
Up to Jerusalem, love motive lent. 
Hard by the sheep-gate was a Pool, far famed 
For healing properties, in Hebrew named 
Bethesda, with five porches running round. 
Where a great multitude of sick were found — 
Blind, halt, and w^ithered — waiting for the stir. 
Known sometimes in the water to occur — 
( For it was said, an angel went down then 
Into the Pool and troubled it, and when 
This happened, whosoever first stepped in 
The prize of healing certain was to win). 

A man there lay, who thirty-eight long years 
Had helpless been, and wet his couch with tears 
From hope deferred, grown desperate of relief. 
Jesus, who knew the term of his long grief, 



Luke 

V. 39 



John 

V. I 



THE NEW DISPENSATION— THE SABBATH. 6l 

Him pitying asked, " Wouldst thou be whole ? " He 
said : J"*^;^ 

"Always another steps of me ahead." 
And forthwith Jesus, without further talk, ^ 

Commands him : " Rise ! take up thy bed and walk I " 
He rose, took up his bed, and walked straightway. 9 
And it so happened 'twas the Sabbath day. 
The Jewish elders therefore to him said : '° 

" It is not lawful' to convey thy bed." 
" I do what He who healed me bade me do. " 

What's lawful He should know as well as you." 
" Who is the man who bade thee to do so ? " '^ 

He could not tell them, for he did not know — ^3 

Jesus, the cure performed, not making stay 
Lost in the crowd had passed from sight away. 
Him later Jesus in the Temple finds, ^+ 

And what behooves him solemnly reminds : 
" Behold thou art made whole, sin thou no more, 
Lest something worse befall thee than before ! " 

The man departed, and the elders told, ^s 

'Twas Jesus healed him. Fiercer than of old '^ 

Blazed their fanatical and fatal hate. 
To murder Him they plot and lie in wait. 
For having healed upon the Sabbath day, 



62 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

And told the cured he should his bed convey, 1°^^ 

Against the frivolous and foolish rules, 

Prescripts and prohibitions* of the schools, 

Rabbinical traditions vain and void, 

Which the true purpose of the law destroyed. 

Not such the holy Sabbath, Heaven decreed, 
To meet the physical and moral need 
Of all the sons of toil — a double rest, 
Rest to the aching back and weary breast ; 

*An idea of the senseless and burdensome nature of some of these may be got from 
the following summary taken chiefly from Geikie's Life of Christ. In regard to the 
tying of knots — To tie or untie a camel-driver's or sailor's knot was unlawful, but a 
knot which could be untied with one hand wss lawful. A shoe or sandal or woman's 
cap, or a wine or oil skin bag might be tied . A pitcher at a spring might be tied to the 
body-sash, but not with a cord. It was forbidden to carry food of greater bulk than a 
dried fig; of honey more than would suffice to anoint a wound ; of paper more than 
could be put into a phylactery ; of ink beyond what would be needed to form two let- 
ters. It was a desecration of the day to kindle or extinguish a fire ; or in sickness to 
give an emetic, or set a broken bone, or put back a dislocated joint. No healing was 
permitted except life was in danger. If one was buried under ruins he might be dug 
out if alive, but not if dead. To wear one kind of sandal was carrying a burden, but 
not another. One might not alone carry a loaf of bread on the public streets, but two 
together might. A journey was limited to 2,000 cubits. 

The Sabbath began with sunset on Friday, and ended with sunset on Saturday. If 
it was cloudy the hens going to roost was to be the signal. The beginning and end- 
ing were announced in Jerusalem by a trumpet from the Temple ; and so in different 
towns. From the decline of the sun on Friday to its setting was Sabbath-eve, during 
which all food must be prepared, all vessels washed, and all lights kindled. No man 
must go out of his house with a needle or pen lest he should forget to lay them aside 
before the Sabbath opens. Pockets must be searched to see that nothing is left in 
them unlawful to carry. The Sabbath was believed to have prevailed in all its strict- 
.ness from eternity throughout the universe. Even in hell the lost had rest from their 
torments during its sacred hours. 



THE NEW DISPENSATION'— THE SABBATH. 63 

Sacred to God for worship and for praise — 1°^^ 

Sacred to man for health and length of days— 

For, though a part of the Creator's plan, 

Man was not made for it, but it for man — 

Was made for man, when man himself was made. 

And the foundations of the world were laid. 

Since hushed Creation heard the Maker speak 

The amen of the cycle of the week, 

The mandate springs eternal in the breast, 

And draws its sanctions from man's need of rest. 

Things that pertain to nature, age, or clime. 

Things of it, and not it, may change with time. 

The day is as the need — it were not good 

To keep the hunger and abolish food. 

Meanwhile its Christian freedom is complete. 

And all its chaste austerities are sweet. 

But, ah ! the food that nourishes can make 
The deadly venom of the vengeful snake. 
Bigots distil from mercy, love, and truth, 
The murderous malice of the poisoned tooth, 
Turn all to hate, wax hourly worse and worse, 
More blind, more deaf, more hardened, more perverse. 
Strange, that these men, who sat in INIoses' seat, 
Did not fall prostrate at His awful feet, 



64 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Unable to deny the glorious fact l?^^ 

That God was present both in word and act. 

More strange, a miracle none could dispute 

Should form their only plea to persecute — 

That for a work, whose heavenly source was plain, 

They should Him cite, and criminally arraign 

Before the Sanhedrim, to answer make. 

Why He their Sabbath quirk had dared to break. 

He threw down challenge in bold words and fit : '^ 
" My Father works, and does not intermit 
His powerful working anywhere in space, 
Either in nature, providence, or grace. 
And I too work in love, and can attest 
Perpetual labor is perpetual rest." 

This made the elders more determined still ; '^ 

Who found therein new pretext Him to kill, 
For that, not only He the Sabbath broke, 
But in addition blasphemy had spoke — 
Calling God ' Father,' arrogating high 
Equality with God. He made reply : ^9 

" The Son can nothing do but what He sees 
The Father do, He duplicates but these. 
The Father loves the Son, and to Him shows ^° 



THE NEW DISPENSATION— THE SABBATH. 65 

All things He does and purposes and knows; J°^ 

And greater things than healing of the sick 
Will show through Him. As He the dead ' makes 
quick, =' 

The Son too quickens whom He will and when. 

" Nor acts the Father as the Judge of men. " 

Omniscient like Himself, He, judging none, 
All judgment has committed to the Son, 
That all may honor to the same extent ^3 

The gracious Sender and the gracious Sent. 
Wherefore 't is my prerogative and right 
To sins forgive, I judge by inward light. 
Who hears My quickening word, and Him believes ^* 
Who sent Me, everlasting life receives— 
Life from above, life spiritual, in room 
Of death and condemnation and just doom. 
Because this life's unseen, demand 3'e proof ? 
The hour is coming and not far aloof, ^^ 

When the entombed and carried on a bier 
Shall start to life as they My voice shall hear. 
As in the Father life springs unbegun, "'^ 

Life in Himself is given to the Son. 

"Deut. xxxii. 39. 



(£ THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

He's made man's Judge, admire Heaven's gracious 

plan ! J^-l", 

Because while God He is a Son of man. 

" Marvel ye not at this, the hour is near, ^^ 

When all the buried dead His voice shall hear, 
And shall amazed come forth, and all mankind -9 

Have their just portions severally assigned. 
I can do nothing of Myself alone, 3° 

Having no wdl distinctively My own. 
Since as I hear I judge, My judgment must. 
Clothed with conjoint divinity, be just. 

" If I bear witness of Myself, then you 31 

Might justly say, My witness is not true, 
As void of proof. But there's Another One, 32 

Who bears Me beaming witness like the sun. 
Ye sent to John, and he true witness bore — 33 

But not from men receive I witness more — 34 

Not for Myself do I this reference make, 
But that you may be saved, and for your sake — 
A burning lamp far shining in the night, 3s 

Ye for a time were happy in his light. 
But proofs of My Messiahship are given 36 

Greater than John's, and reaching up to heaven — 



THE NEW DISPENSATION— THE SABBATH. 



67 



" My works, demanding power omnipotent, {"^^^ 
Bear witness that My Father has Me sent. 
Though evidenced in Me, ye stand agape, 37 

And neither hear His voice nor see His shape. 
Because your vain traditions fill the floor, 38 

Against the word of God ye shut the door — 
Discredit what the Scriptures testify 
Of Me, and think they witness to a lie. 
Ye search them, for ye think ye have therein 39 

Eternal life, without forsaking sin. 
But full belief in them refuse to give, 4° 

And will not come to Me that ye may live. 

" I seek not human glory, I desire 41 

None of those honors to which you aspire — 
For I know you, that ye crave power and pelf, 42 

And have not love of God but love of self. 
I come, commissioned in My Father's name, ^3 

And ye with bitter scorn reject My claim. 
If comes another, artful to deceive. 
All unaccredited, him ye'll receive. 
How can one possibly believe, who clings 44 

To worldly honors and minds earthly things — 
Willing God's favor for their sake to lose ? 



I THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Think not I'll to the Father you accuse — l?^^^ 

Moses, in whom ye put your trust, ev'n he 
Will you accuse, because he wrote of Me. ^e 

But seeing Moses' writings ye reject 47 

What better for My words can I expect? " 

Thus spoke the future Judge of quick and dead, 
And all the guilty Court was dumb with dread. 
How awful Goodness is! the Truth how- sweet! 
Let unborn lips the precious words repeat : 

" The Father to the Son all power has given — 
His throne established in the height of heaven ; 
Him raised to sit at His right hand alway, 
Above all rule, authority, and sway, 
And given Him a name all names "" above, 
And put all things beneath His feet of love. 
His dwelling is with men to execute 
True judgment and show mercy : to uproot 
Satan's dark empire and the reign of death. 
The Lord of Life, He quickens with His breath 
The dead in trespasses'* and sins, and lifts 
To sit in heavenly places crowned with gifts. 

"Phil. ii. 9. •' Eph. ii. 1-5; Col. ii. 15. 



THE NEW DISPENSATION— THE SABBATH. 



Matt. xii. i-8 ; M.\kk ii. 23-28 ; Luke vi. 1-5. 



69 



As He returned to Galilee, He went l\f^\ 

Through cornfields on the Sabbath day. Intent 
Upon the holy work of doing good, 
He paid no heed to His own want of food, 
But His disciples hungry from long fast, 
Plucked a few ears and rubbed them as they passed, 
And ate. And watching Pharisees hard by ^ 

Said unto Him : "See thy disciples ! Why 
Break they the Sabbath, and Thou not forbid ? " 
He said : " Have ye not read what David did ^ 

When he was hungry, how he scrupled not 
With those who were the sharers of his lot, 
To go into the House of God, and eat 4 

The sacred show-bread, which it was not meet 
Nor lawful for himself or any one, 
To touch or taste, except the priests alone ? 
Or in the law, have ye not read again, s 

The priests by work do not the day profane ? 
By labor and by rest, by both or each, 
The day is holy kept and without breach. 
O'er all the motive dominates and sweeps, 
The spirit soars, the letter only creeps ; 
The Temple needs are not so great, at most. 



70 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

As man's, the Temple of the Holj Ghost. ^J?^^- 

Of little import is the outward act, 

Compared with character and moral fact. 

Sabbath and sacrifice in this agree, 

They're far less dear to God than charity. 

Lord of the Sabbath and the Source of it, ^ 

The Son of Man is judge of what is fit." 

Matt. xii. 9-14; Mark hi. 1-6; Luke vi. 6-11. 

Departing thence, he entered on His way \!^^^ 

A synagogue another Sabbath day. 
And taught in words they all could understand. 
A man was present with a withered hand. 
And Scribes and Pharisees made feigned appeal : 7 
" Since work is work and it is work to heal, 
Is healing lawful wrought on Sabbath days ? " 
Quite sure by past miraculous displays. 
If asked to heal. His love would not refuse, 
They watched to see that they might Him accuse. 
Knowing their thoughts He gave to him command, ^ 
Who had the palsied arm and withered hand : 
" Rise up and stand forth in the midst ! " And he 
Rose up and stood. And Jesus said : " Let me 9 

Ask you. Ts't lawful to do good or ill 
On Sabbath days ? to save life or to kill ? " 



THE NEW DISPENSATION— THE SABBATH. 71 



Mark 
iii. 4 



They held their peace, not venturing reply. 

With an unusual sternness in His eye, 

He said : "What man, who having but one sheep, ^-^^^^ 

Fallen into a dangerous pit and deep. 

Would not lay hold of it and lift it out ? 

Since man is better than a sheep, no doubt, " 

It is most lawful to do good always, 

Both on the Sabbath and all other days." 

Then looking round with anger mixed with grief "^if/^ 

On them so hard of heart. He mandate brief 

Spoke to the man : "Stretch forth thy hand ! " The 

will 
Flashed power along the nerves, that felt the thrill 
Of the returning life, and the disabled hand 
Regained its ancient cunning and command. 
They, filled with madness, plotted with hot breath ^ 
With the Herodians His speedy death. 

Matt. xii. 15-21 ; Makk in. 7-i». 

Withdrawn with His disciples to the sea, 7 

Vast numbers came to Him from Galilee, 
And from Judea and Jerusalem, ^ 

Perea, Idumea, some of them 
From Tyre and Sidon and the adjoming coast. 
Hearing the things He did, a mighty host. 



72 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Though coming- crowds around him surged and 
pressed ^^'"'^ 



iii. 8 



Leaving Him little or no time for rest, 

Of mortal weariness He gave no sign, 

Nor paused nor fainted in His work divine. 

Howe'er they jostled, pushed on every side, 

His holy lips were never heard to chide — 

In the fulfilment sweet of what of old ^j*"^ 

Was by Isaiah of the Christ foretold : 

' Behold My Servant whom I chose ! My Sent ! '^ 

My Well-beloved in whom I am content. 

Upon Him I My Spirit will bestow, 

And judgment to the Gentiles He shall show. 

He shall not strive nor cry, no fearful ear ^9 

His voice haranguing in the streets shall hear, 

Urging sedition and fomenting feuds, 

Exciting to revolt fierce multitudes. 

He without noise shall worldly kingdoms shake. 

The bruised reed He will in nowise break, ^^ 

And smoking flax He will not quench, but He, 

Gentle as kingly, will all patience be, 

Till smoke burst forth in clear victorious flame, 

And distant Gentiles learn to trust His name.' ^^ 



THE NEW DISPENSATION— THE SABBATH. 



73 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

All time, O Lord, is holy time ! 

To Thee we wake, to Thee we sleep, 
'Mid busiest hours the heavens we climb, 

And a perpetual Sabbath keep. 

In Thee we live and move and are, 
From Thy full fountains we are fed ; 

Thou makest sun and moon and star 
Meek ministers to yield us bread. 

Thy laws relation have to need — 
Water essential is to thirst — 

Repeal of water may succeed, 

But want should be abolished first. 

While life is toil — most sweet, most kind, 
This boon of leisure and of rest ; 

This holy quietude of mind, 

This weekly Sabbath of the breast. 



74 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

We Sundays keep, and feel no yoke, 
Day of the Lord, the day of days ! 

When earth's ten thousand altars smoke 
With the sweet incense of Thy praise. 

But then, we know, no law sets free 
From that which is above all price — 

The sacred claims of charity — 
For Mercy's more than sacrifice. 




THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 75 



A 



VIII. 

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 

Matt. v. i — vii. 29; Mark hi. 13-19; Luke vi. 12-49. 

ND He went out into a Mountain, where 



Luke 
vi. 12 



Mark 
iii. 14 



He spent the night in soHtary prayer, 
And called to Him, just as the sun arose, 
Of His disciples whom He would ; and chose. 
With those already gathered to His feet, 
As many as would make the Twelve complete- 
Ordained them and appointed them to be 
Always with Him, to have authority 
As His envoys to publish and proclaim 
Pardon and peace to sinners in His name, 
And heal the sick and demons exorcise, '^ 

Under the seal of the attesting skies. 

Descending lower down with them, He stood v"^^ 
On a raised plain mid a vast multitude, 
Composed of His disciples — and all them 
Who from Judea, and Jerusalem, 



Matt 

V. I 



76 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

And from the shores of Tyre and Sidon came Jrj"*^! 

To hear Him and be healed — ^His blessed name, 

Now on all lips, because there was no case 

Too desperate for His relieving grace ; 

The virtue that went out of Him was such ^9 

That men were healed with one believing touch. 

All hushed, He sat, and lifting up His eyes =° 

On His disciples, taught them in this wise : 

Happy the poor in spirit, who 

their deep demerit own. 
In them My Kingdom I set up 

with them I share My throne 
Happy are they, who mourn for sin 

with smitings on the breast. 
The Comforter shall comfort them 

in ways He knoweth best. 
Happy the meek, who patient bear, 

unconscious of their worth, 
They shall inherit seats of power, 
and dominate the earth. 
Happy who hunger and who thirst 

for righteousness complete. 
Their longings shall fulfilments have 
and satisfactions sweet. 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. jj 

Happy the merciful, who know Matt, 

to pity and forgive, 
They mercy shall obtain at last, 

and evermore shall live. 
Happy the pure in heart, whose feet s 

with holiness are shod. 
They shall run up the shining way 
and see the face of God. 
Happy the friends of peace, who heal 9 

the wounds by discord given, 
The God of Heaven shall hold them dear 
and call them sons of heaven. 
Happy are they, who suffer for 

adherence to the right. 
They shall be kings and priests to God 
in realms of heavenly light. 
Happy are ye when men revile n 

and falsely you accuse, 
Be very glad for so of old 

did they the prophets use. 
Happy are ye, when for My sake, 

men persecute and hate, 
Exult ! for your reward in heaven 

is made thereby more great. 



78 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

" Ye are the salt, whose saving power and worth 
Arrest corruption and preserve the earth ; ^.^^^ 

But if the salt its saltness lose, bereft 
Of soul and sapience, the remnant left 
Is foolish dirt, fit only to be then 
Cast out and trodden under foot of men. 
Watch, therefore, lest ye fall and lose the grace. 
And ye yourselves be cast away as base ; 
Once lost, no power the savor can restore. 
The salt remains unsalted evermore. 
Towards them without do ye in wisdom '^ walk, 
Seasoned with salt your conduct be and talk. 
He who a sinner by his pureness^' wins 
Shall save a soul and hide unnumbered sins. 
Devoted be, a sacrifice entire 
Salted with salt and purifying fire." 

" Ye are the light of this dark world to show '♦ 

The narrow path to erring man below. 
Since ye are now, who once in darkness lay, 
Light in the Lord and children of the day, '^ 
Walk in the light, gainsay ers thus confute 
By holy arguments of answering fruit ! 

•Col. iv. 5, 6. ''James v. 20. ' Mark ix. 49. -iEph. v. 8. 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 79 



A city that is set upon a hill 
Cannot be hid, let men do what they will. 
Nor do men light a lamp, and put the light 
Under a bushel, but, in open sight 
And on a stand, that so it may illume 
Each dark and distant corner of the room. 
Let your pure light so shine, that all may see, 
In your good works and acts of piety. 
Sweet demonstrations of your sonship given. 
And glorify your Father Who's in heaven ! 

" Think not I'm come to vacate or defeat, 
I'm come not to destroy, but to complete, 
Expound and magnify God's perfect law, 
And give fulfilment of what prophets saw 
Of Gospel promise and predicted grace. 
Amen, I say to you that in no case. 
Till earth shall fail, and heaven no more abide, 
Shall aught pass from the law, till satisfied 
Fulfilled and honored in each sacred jot. 
And awful tittle, penstroke, point and dot. 
In laws ordained for Israel of old 
Were things foreshadowed and events foretold, 
That have fulfilments when the time is ripe — 



Matt. 



80 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Type in the coming of the antitype, ^^^• 

The shadow in the substance. Drops the shell 

And lo, the kernel it concealed so well. 

These, by abolishing fulfilments, end : 

But none may blot the writing God has penned, 

His permanent sure word : the least command 

Is the eternal rescript of His hand. 

Because th' authority which clothes the least '5 

Of God's commandments cannot be increased, 

Who breaks and teaches men to break them, he, 

In the New Church and Kingdom of the Free, 

Shall be called least ; but who shall do and teach 

Them strictly, he shall highest honors reach. 

For verily I say to you, unless ^^ 

Yours shall exceed the boasted righteousness 

Of Scribes and Pharisees, for you the gate 

Of My pure Kingdom shall be all too strait. 

" Ye've heard that it was said by them who made ^■ 
Additions to the law of old a trade — 
The ancient glossarists who maimed and clipped 
The meaning of the original prescript — 
' Thou shalt not kill, and, who shall kill shall be 
In danger of the judgment, else is he 
Not guilty.' But I say, ' Thou shalt not hate !' ^- 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. gl 



Matt. 

V. — 



For murders in the heart originate : 
The guilt is not confined to outward act — 
A murderous temper murder is in fact. 
Feelings are judged, by Him who cannot err — 
Who hates his brother is a murderer. 
Anger that is not moral is forbid ; 
Where malice mingles there is murder hid. 
The armed assassin, ambushed in the heart, 
Shoots unseen arrows at each vital part — 
Stabs with mad words, projecting curses fell 
With tongue of fire that 's set on fire of hell. 
But for the cowardice of heart and hand, 
Raca and/(?f/^' were all for which they stand. 
Lawless is passion. Adder in the path 
Is not so venomous as waiting wrath. 
Like fabled basilisk, its poisoned breath 
Is hot and deadl}^ and its glance is death. 

''As love, which neither works nor wishes ill, ^3 

Alone the law can in its breadth fulfil. 
If to the altar thou thy gift dost bring. 
And there rememberest there is any thing 
Thy brother has against thee, leave behind '^ 

* These terms, especially the latter, are expressive of great contempt and bitterness, 
and may be regarded as tantamount to imprecating damnation on another. 
6 



Matt. 

V. — 



82 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

The gift unoffered, and with friendly mind 

Go first be reconciled to him, then lift 

An imshamed head and so present thy gift. 

" Agree with him whom thou hast wronged straight- 
way ! ^5 
Compose thy differences without delay ! 
Matter of quarrel while thou canst remove, 
Lest he, from whom thou keepest back thy love, 
Be like a creditor who a debtor meets 
And drags him to the judge through all the streets ; 
Delivered to the officer at last, 
He into prison without hope is cast. 
Debtor to love thou shalt be prisoner made ^^ 
Till the last farthing of the debt is paid. 
Be warned against the horrors of that state, 
The black Gehenna of eternal hate. 

" Ye 've heard it was of old commanded, * Thou ^7 
Shalt not commit adultery.' But now ^^ 

1 say, not ' lewd and lavish act of sin ' 
Alone, but unchaste look alike lets in 
Th' adulterous defilement, so that he 
Who lusts is guilty of adultery. 
Thou shalt be master of thyself, severe ^9 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. • 83 

Toward every loose desire, nor hold so dear ^!^"- 

Th' unmeasured worth of thy right hand or e)'e, 

As a triumphant saintly chastity. 

Filled with intense aversions and disgusts 

Tread under foot contaminating lusts. 

Let no thought enter gross or unrefined 

The unpolluted temple of the mind. 

Make Avith thine eyes a covenant, control 

These avenues and inlets to the soul. 

Of the strange woman^ and her arts beware, 

'T is for thy life, be caught not in her snare. 

After her beauty lust not, do not sell 

Thy birthright, bargaining it for hell, 

Where crawls the worm that ceases not to gnaw 

And quenchless flame of violated law. 

If thou wouldst not consort with pains and stings, 

And all abominable and detested things, 

Excise the cancer with unsparing knife, 3° 

For no adulterer can enter life. 

"And it was said, ' Whoso shall put away 31 

His wife, let him in witnessed form convey 
A writing of divorce.' The cause with him 
Need be mere Aveariness or wish or whim. 

'Prov. vii. c. 



84 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

This, for the hardness of your heart once given, 
Was sufferance rather than the will of Heaven. 
From the beginning it was otherwise, 
I now pronounce the statute of the Skies : 
Who shall his wife divorce from board and bed, 
Except, for lewdness, and another wed ; 
And he who marries her, not rightly free 
Both these and she commit adultery. 
What God has joined let none asunder put, 
Trampling eternal sanctions under foot. 



Matt. 
xix. 8 



Mark 
X. 9 



Matt. 



" Again, ye 've heard in olden time 't was said : 
' Thou shalt not falsely swear, but pay, instead. 
All vows expressly made unto the Lord, 
For this obligatory makes thy word : — 
Oaths that contain not, nor imply God's name, 
Are mock oaths, without force and without blame, 
Of which ten thousand broken in a day 
Stop short of perjury, and nothing weigh.' 
The frowns of Heaven on such vain swearing fail. 
Therefore I say to you. Swear not at all ! 34 

Neither by heaven, for it is God's high seat ; 
Nor by the earth, the footstool of His feet ; 35 

Nor by Jerusalem, of which He is King ; 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 85 

Nor by 3'our head ; nor yet b}' anything-. ^?^!^^- 

Too much protesting* is not wise nor well. 

An oath adds nothing to the truth 3'e tell. 

So let your speech be simplest, Yes and No, 27 

For from the Evil One additions flow. 

The law means this : Thou shalt not falsify ! 

To bear false witness is to tell a lie. 

This is the whole, however men invent 

Endless deceits concerning what is meant — 

Darken the simple and perplex the plain, 

By some unholy juggle of the brain ; 

Gloze over insincerities of speech, 

That crafty men the better may o'erreach. 

" Ye 've heard that it was said, 'An eye for eye, 38 
A tooth for tooth,' for this is equity. 
Equate the wrong by giving blow for blow — 
Who showed no mercy, him no mercy show.' 
But I enjoin : Resist not evil ! learn, 39 

If one shall smite thee on one cheek, to turn 
To him the other also ! If he sue, *° 

And take thy cloak, surrender thy coat too ! 

* 'T is not the many oaths that make the truth, 
But the plain simple vow that is vowed true. 

— Shakespeare. 



36 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

And if moreover he shall thee constrain ^.^"' 

To go with him one mile, go with him twain : 
Whatever provocation thee assail, 
Let not thy patience nor thy meekness fail ! 
Beware how thou give place to cruel Pride, 
Companion of Revenge, the homicide — 
The Sin of Self that will no insult brook. 
Paying in blood the outrage of a look. 

" Ye 've heard 't was said, ' Thy neighbor love, and 
hate « 

Thine enemy.' But 1 reiterate 4+ 

The old commandment : Love your enemies, 
In word and deed ! Bless them in gentle wise 
Who curse ! Do good to them that hate ! And pray 
For them who persecute ! that so ye may +5 

Be children of your Father Who 's in heaven, 
By whom the dear and high example 's given — 
For He on good and bad, on one and all. 
Causes His sun to shine, His rain to fall. 
For if ye love them only who love you, '♦^ 

x^s publicans do this, what thanks are due? 
If ye salute your brethren only, what ^^ 

Do ye the heathen naturally do not ? 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 8/ 

As is your Heavenly Father, so be ye, ^^^g 

Perfect in love and in benignity ! 

" Let not your righteousness be a deceit, "^'- ^ 

A hollow show, and worthless counterfeit, 
Done to be seen of men ! for in God's sight. 
Right done from love of right alone is right — 
Base motives render base. Fix your regard 
On His approval, as your high reward ! 
So when thou doest alms, do not proclaim "^ 

By sound of trumpet everywhere the same, 
As do the hypocrites — vain-glorious cheats 
Who in the synagogues and in the streets 
Publish their charities, that they may gain 
Glory of men ; 't is all they shall obtain. 
When pity prompts, and alms-deeds thee invite, 3 
Let not thy left hand know what does the right; 
The secret alms thou blushest to make known -t 

Thy Father sees, and openly will own. 

" And when thou prayest, let the office be s 

A sacred matter 'twixt thy God and thee ! 
Be not as are the hypocrites, who pray 
In synagogues and streets for self-display — 
Whose worship is a mock and an offense — 



88 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

They have their sought for, worthless recompense. 

Enter th}^ closet, having shut thy door, ^?"- 

Thy Father, Who in secret is, implore ! 

And He, Who sees in secret, will regard 

With favor, and thee openly reward. 

But when ye pray, let your weighed words be few ! ^ 

Use not vain babblings as the heathen do, 

Who think their gods for their much speaking hear. 

So with loud repetitions stun the ear. 

Be ye not like to them ! Before ye speak ^ 

Your Father knows your need, and what ye seek. 

After this manner briefly pour your heart, 9 

Whether ye pray together or apart : 

' Our Father, Who dost make in heaven Thy home, 

Thrice hallowed be Thy name ! Thy Kingdom come ! 

Thy will be done — Thy perfect law of love " 

Fulfilled on earth as in the realms above ! 

Give us this day the bread by which we live ! " 

Forgive our debts as we men's debts forgive ! ^^ 

Into temptation lead us not, but ever '3 

In danger's hour from evil us deliver ! 

For Thine the Kingdom is, and Power, and Praise, '+ 

And the Amen, through everlasting days.' 

Forgive, and ye shall be (not else) forgiven, — ^s 

Such is the unalterable law of heaven. 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 89 



Matt. 
vi. 16 



" And when ye fast, let not your fasting be 
An acted piece of sheer hypocrisy — 
Vain ostentation, pretence, and parade, 
A studied make-believe and masquerade, 
With rueful visage and disfigured face, 
Hiding gross worldliness, and motives base. 
This fast to men, to win men's poor regard, 
Has verily from men its sole reward. 
As fast from self is more than fast from meat, 
As sordid looks make not the soul more sweet. 
Anoint thy head, and wash thy face, that so 
No one the secret of thy fast shalt know. 
Except thy Father, who will recompense 
Thy most sincere and secret penitence ! 



" Lay not up treasures here with futile zeal, ^9 

Where moth corrupts, and thieves break through and 

steal ; 
But soar aloft on swift and eager wings, '° 

To grasp the substance of eternal things ! 
Provide ye bags that wax not old, secure ^h^sI 

A treasure in the heavens that shall endure ! 
There neither moth consumes nor rust corrodes, 
No thieves invade those high and safe abodes ; 



90 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Set your affections then on things above, 
For where your treasure is will be your love I 

" Lamp of the body is the seeing eye, 
Lighted by all the torches of the sky— 
If single, clear, and healthy be the sight. 
Then is the happy body full of light ; 
But if diseased or double be the sense, 
Dark in thyself, the dark will be intense — 
Like to the utter darkness of the blind, 
A double vision and a double mind. 
For none can serve two masters with true heart, 
Howe'er duplicity may play its part ; 
From its allegiance Hate is sure to swerve — 
Ye can in no wise God and Mammon serve. 

" Dismiss solicitude and sordid care 
About what ye shall eat or drink or wear ! 
Life 's more than food, the body more than dress. 
Who gives the greater will bestow the less. 
Behold the birds of heaven, they do not sow 
Nor reap, nor plenty into barns bestow. 
And yet your Heavenly Father feeds them — say, 
Are ye not of more value much than they ? 
Are not five sparrows for two farthings given ? 



Matt, 
vi. — 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 



91 



And yet not one forgotten is of Heaven, ^^j^'^ 

Nor falls unnoticed. Ye are much more dear 

Than many sparrows, therefore do not fear. 

So watchful, tender, and minute God's care, 

He notes and numbers of your head each hair. 

And which of you by dint of anxious thought ^7 

Can ever add to his fixed stature aught ? 

Why are ye troubled about raiment ? See =^s 

The lilies of the field, how carelessly 

They grow, they toil not, spin not, are at ease — 

Yet Solomon was ne'er arrayed like one of these. ^9 

Wherefore if God so clothe the growing grass 3° 

Which is to-day, and shall to-morrow pass 

Into the oven, will he not clothe and do, 

O ye of little faith, as much for you ? 

So be not anxious about clothes and food, 31 

Which untaught Gentiles seek as their chief good, 32 

But seek ye first the glory and success 33 

Of God's own Kingdom and His righteousness — 

Labor to build on its eternal base 

His government of truth and love and grace. 

And all these temporal things shall added be 

To the possessions of Eternity. 



92 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

" Be not concerned about to-morrow's fate, '^^"■ 
For what shall happen be content to wait ; 
Meet not the travehng grief that makes delay, 
Sufficient is the evil for the day." 

" Sit not in judgment on your fellow man ; ^'"- ' 

God judges righteously, no other can. 
Judge not, lest ye condemn yourselves therein, = 

And forfeit needed mercy for your sin ! 
Measure for measure shall to you be given 
By unrespecting and impartial Heaven. 
And why art thou so keen and swift to spy 3 

And blame the mote that dims thy brother's eye, 
But blindly tolerant and dense as night 
To the huge beam that darkens thy own sight ? 
Or how wilt thou assume to purge his sense, 
When thine own eyes are full of rank offence ? 
Bigot and hypocrite, thy beam remove, s 

Then pluck thy brother's mote with hand of love. 

" Give not things holy unto dogs — beware ^ 

Lest currish natures turn on you and tear ! 
Nor cast your pearls 'fore senseless swine to root 
And trample them uncaring under foot ! 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. g^ 

" Nothing's so free as hospitable Heaven — ^s"- 
Ask, and all needful grace shall you be given ! 
Seek, and the gate of Mercy ye shall find ! 
Knock, and a lofty welcome waits behind ! 
Who ask receive, who seek they find, who knock ^ 
To them will God the heaven of heavens unlock. 

" For what man of you all, who, if his son 9 

Should ask him for a loaf, will give a stone ? 
Or for a fish, a serpent will bestow ? '° 

If ye then being evil, always know " 

How to supply your children's hungry needs. 
How much more He, whose love all love exceeds, 
Your Heavenly Father, shall good gifts impart 
To those who ask in singleness of heart ! 

" Do as ye would that men should do to you, — '= 
This is the law, and this the prophets too. 

" Enter ye in at the strait gate and low ! ^3 

For wide the gate, and broad the road to woe — 
Many there be, who tread that downward path, 
Which to destruction leads and waiting wrath. 
For narrow is the gate, not letting in *♦ 

The added bulk of unrepented sin ; 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



94 

And hard the way and difficult to climb ^^^^ 

That leads to life and holiness sublime ; 
And few there be, who with deep searching eyes 
Find out that hidden path and mount the skies. 

" Be on your guard against false prophets, who ''s 
Cruel as cunning, heedless souls undo — 
Wolves in sheep's clothing — their pretentions try, 
Ye by their fruits shall know their claim a lie. '^ 

Do grapes on thorns, or figs on thistles grow ? 
The fruit decides, by it the tree ye know ; ^7 

As is the fruit, so the producing tree, 
Or good or evil, as the case may be ; 
If good the tree, so also is the fruit, ^^ 

If evil, evil, each to each must suit. 
The tree that brings not forth good fruit, the same '9 
Shall be hewn down and cast into the flame. ^° 

" Not he who mere lip-homage pays to Me, ^' 

Into My Kingdom shall admitted be ; 
But he alone, whose life is in accord ; 
Who does God's will, as well as calls Me, Lord. 
Many will say to Me in that dread day, ^^ 

When all disguises shall be swept away, 
' Lord ! Lord ! do not reject our pious claim ! 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 95 



Matt. 
vii. — 



Have we not prophesied in Thy great name, 

And cast out demons, many wonders done ?' 

Then I will all relationship disown, ^3 

Sa)ang, I know you not, depart from Me, 

O, all ye workers of iniquity ! 

" Therefore, who comes to Me for grace and light, ^* 
These sayings hears, and does them with his might, 
Him will I liken to the prudent man, 
Who built a house, and, digging deep, began 
By laying its foundations on a rock, 
Solid and mighty to resist all shock. 
The rain descended, and the floods arose, ^s 

And the wind blew, and with repeated blows 
Smote it, but when the storm was overpast. 
Rock-based, unshaken, lo, the house stood fast. 
But he who hears My words, and hugs his guilt, ^^ 
Is like unto the foolish man, who built 
His house upon the sand. The winter rain *? 

Descending, flooded all the shifting plain ; 
Fierce blew the wind, loud roared the streams around. 
And the house fell quick crashing to the ground." 

When Jesus, in the audience of those ^^ 

Assembled, brought His sayings to a close, 



^6 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

All were astonished, for He spake with awe, ^^j^'^^- 

Not as the Scribes, but as Himself the law — 

Proclaiming from that Sinaitic hill, 

With all authority, Jehovah's will ; 

That New Commandment, latest from above, 

The deuteronomy summed up in Love. 



CHARACTER OF A HAPPY MAN. 

Psalm i. 

Happy the man not led astray, 
Whose feet fly far the fatal snare ; 

Who stands not in the sinner's way, 
Who sits not in the scorner's chair. 

But in the statutes of the Lord 
Finds evermore a new delight ; 

Feeds on the sweetness of His word, 
In meditation day and night. 

Like to a tree, that's planted near 
Unfailing streams that feed the root. 

On bending boughs 'mong leaves ne'er sere, 
He shows to Heaven immortal fruit. 



THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 

Whate'er he does shall grow and thrive, 
His joyful soul shall leap and laugh ; 

Not so th' ungodly ; winds shall drive 
Them far away like empty chaff. 

They shall not in the judgment stand, 
Nor shall the grace they spurned acquit : 

But owned of God, at His right hand, 
The righteous shall exalted sit. 



97 




98 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



IX. 

CENTURION— WIDOW OF NAIN— DEATH OF JOHN. 

Matt. vm. i, 5-13: Luke vii. i-io. 

DESCENDING from the Mount, the eager throng 
Follow His footsteps, as He goes along ^uke 

Towards Capernaum, where elders wait 3 

His mighty coming at the city's gate — 
Sent forth by a Centurion (one who 
Had built a synagogue, though not a Jew, ^ 

And held most worthy), bearing his request s 

That He would heal his servant, sore distrest 
With a dire palsy, ready now to die. ^ 

Jesus went with them ; and, as He drew nigh ^ 

The house's door, the Roman Captain sent 
A second embassy His coming to prevent. 
Saying, " Lord, trouble not thyself to come, 
It were too great an honor to My home, ^ 

That thou shouldst enter it, but if thou say 
The word, my servant shall be healed straightway. 
For I have power committed to my hand, ^ 



CENTURION— WIDOW OF NAIN. 



99 



And say to soldiers under my command, l^^^2 

Go ! and they go : Come ! and they come : This do ! 
And swift compliances at once ensue. 
Thy willing vassals are disease and death, 
Yielding obedience to Thy sovereign breath." 
When Jesus heard He marvelled. Turning round 9 
He to the people said : " I have not found '° 

wSo great faith, no, not in all Israel." 
In that same hour the servant was made well, 

Luke vii. 11-17. 

On the next day, divinely prescient, " 

He, journeying swiftly, to a city went 
Called Nain.* Th' attendant multitude scarce kept 
Pace with His rapid march. As on they swept, 
Mile after weary mile without a pause, 
They wondered greatly what might be the cause 
Of His great haste, until as they drew near " 

The city's gate, they saw borne on a bier 
A dead man, only son of a poor widow, who 
Made loud lament as mourning mothers do. 
Much people of the city present were — 
And when the Lord her saw He pitied her, '3 

* Nain was 25 miles from Capernaum. 



lOO THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

And said : " Weep not ! " — then came and touched the 
bier • ^^^^ 

"-'^'^^ ) Vll. 14. 

While they that bare stood still in awe and fear, 

And said : " Young man, I say to thee, Arise I " 

And, lo ! he that was dead, before all eyes 's 

Sat up and spake. Him, rescued from the grave, 

Back to his mother's joyful arms He gave. 

A sudden dread and a mysterious awe ^^ 

Came down on all who this great wonder saw ; 

And glorifying God, they said, " 'T is plain, 

A mighty Prophet has appeared again.: 

After long waiting, as in ages past, 

His people God has visited at last." 

Matt. xiv. 3-12 ; Mark vi. 21-29. 

Bright and particular, the Morning Star, 
With matchless splendor, prophesies afar 
Th' immediate coming of the Orb of Day, 
Then with the increasing light it fades away. 
So Christ's incomparable Forerunner, John, 
Bore brilliant witness, till the Risen Sun, 
From the vast firmament in healing streams. 
Poured on the world His golden wealth of beams, 
To bless the nations, and mankind restore. 
And banish ancient night forever more. 



Matt, 
xiv. 3 



DEATH OF JOHN. lOl 

John's lofty mission finished, a brief while 
Allowed to bask in his great Master's smile — 
Rejoicing in the light which made his dim, 
And ceasing not to testify of Him — 
It on one dark and fatal day befell, 
That Herod Antipas, fit tool of hell, 
Him seized and bound and into prison thrust, 
To please the haughty partner of his lust, 
Herodias, for whom he had defied 
All law, and outraged decency beside — 
Causing wide scandal, discontent, and strife 
By wedding her, his brother Philip's wife. 
And so, a Jew, to soften public blame, 
He sought from John the sanction of his name ; 
Who, fearless of the anger of the king. 
Said to his face : '' 'T is not a lawful thing 
For thee to have her." He enraged would then 
Have killed him, but durst not, for that all men 
Held John a prophet. To his foxy eyes, 
Later, it seemed not politic nor wise 
To put to death one of renown so pure. 
Not so his bloody minded paramour. 
She — murderous thoughts revolving night and day. 
Her thirst for vengeance brooking no delay — 



102 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Ceased not to plot with devilish design, 

Till on his birth-night, when inflamed with wine, 

Keeping high wassail with his guests, it chanced, 

Salome, daughter of Herodias, danced 

Before them all, and it pleased Herod so, 

That he made drunken promise to bestow 

On her whate'er she asked, though it should be 

Half of his realm. Urged by her mother, she 

Said : " Give me here upon a dish the head 

Of John the Baptist, other gift instead." 

The king was sorry, caught thus in the snare 
Laid for his feet, but yet he did not dare 
Retract his foolish oath,* before them sworn 
Who sat at table, dreading secret scorn, 
And so he ordered it to be fulfilled, 
Ev'n to the letter, as the damsel willed. 
With severing stroke, there in his prison cell. 
On his great neck the axe uplifted fell ; 
The bleeding head, just from the body torn. 
Was to the girl upon a charger borne. 
Who it received, and to her mother brought 
The gory prize she had so cheaply bought. 

* " It is a great sin to swear unto a sin 
But greater sin to lieep a sinful oath." 

— Shakespeare. 



Matt. 



XIX. 



DEATH OF JOHN. IO3 

When the dread tidings his disciples heard, ^^^f^\-^ 

They took the headless trunk and it interred ; 
Then went, and Jesus told the horrid tale — 
Hearing the news ten thousand cheeks turned pale. 

Matt. xi. 2-19 ; Luke vii. 18-35. 

While in the fortress of Machserus pent, •^'- - 

Prison and palace, John to Jesus sent 
(Told of His works, self -witnessing, divine) 
Two of his own disciples with design. 
That from Christ's lips they might the truth receive, 
And mid adverse appearances believe. 
Instructed so, they asked Him : " Art Thou He, 3 
The Christ, the One that Cometh, or do we 
Look for another ?" In that very hour 
Jesus cured many by His word of power 
Of manifold diseases. Thereupon 
He said to them : " Go ye, report to John, ■» 

What ye have seen and heard, there answer find. 
Yourselves are witnesses, how that the blind ^ 

x\re made to see, the deaf to hear, the dumb 
To speak, the lame to walk, — how lepers come . 
And are made clean, how e'en the dead are reached, 
And how the Gospel to the poor is preached. 



104 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Happy is he and sure of recompense ^j^^^- 

Who finds in Me nor scandal nor offense ! " 

Jesus began to speak, when they had gone, ^ 

Unto the multitude concerning John : 
" What went ye in the wilderness to find ? 
Was it a frail reed rocking in the wind ? 
But ye went out expecting what to see ? ^ 

One in soft dress apparelled gorgeously ? 
Those who live delicately are in king's courts, 
And are too dainty for such rude resorts. 
Was it to see a prophet ye went out ? 9 

A prophet and much more beyond a doubt. 
For this is he of whom 't is written, ' Lo ^° 

I send My Messenger, and he shall go 
Before Thy face, and shall prepare the way, 
What time Thy coming shall no more delay !' 
Among them that are born of women, none ^* 

Of all the prophets greater is than John ; 
But not the honor — which to him was given, 
As the great Messenger and Mouth of Heaven ; 
The Voice and Witness of the speaking Sky 
Proclaiming that the Reign of God was nigh — 
Equals the greatness of the meanest place 



DEATH OF JOHN. IO5 

In the established Monarchy of Grace. ^^'^ 

Not height of function, nor related blood, 
But holy choice of the eternal good 
Gives highest title in that Kingdom blest. 
Set up forever in the willing breast. 

" John, who at first stood outside and before 
The mighty threshold of the palace door. 
Was first to enter, and has ever since 
Been true and loyal to the Heavenly Prince. 
His faithful head, once pillowed on the sod, 
Rests on the bosom and the heart of God — 
Above all dignity, all height above. 
Sharing the privilege of the least that love.* 

" From John till now God's Kingdom comes in 
power '- 

And might of numbers, growing every hour ; 
With holy violence and conquering stress 
Thev storm its gates, and struggle to possess. 
For all the prophets prophesied as one, '3 

Till high fulfilments were in John begun — 
Himself th' Elijah destined to appear— '* 

He that hath ears of hearing let him hear : '5 

* For the grounds of the opinion, that John was in and )tot outsiUc tlie King^dom of 
Heaven, see pp. m, 112 of the Evangel, First Part. 



Luke 
vii.29 



106 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

His powerful summons all the people heard, 
And publicans repented at his word, 
Heeded the warning to the nation given, 
Being baptized, and justifying Heaven. 
Not so the Pharisees and lawyers, they, 
Rejecting counsel, dared to disobey ; 
With towering arrogance God's grace despised. 
Refusing to repent and be baptized. 



" With nothing pleased, impossible to suit, 
Peevish, perverse, and given to dispute. 
Malicious, quarrelsome, and prone to strike, 
To what then is this generation like } 
'T is like to boys who in the market, play 
Weddings and funerals, and, calling, say 
To surly playmates difficult and sour : 
' We've used all means to please you in our power ; 
We piped to you, and yet ye would not dance ; 
We mourned to you, and ye, with looks askance 
In churlish ugliness and sullen spite, 
Refused in acted grief your breasts to smite.' 
For John the Baptist came, not using food 
Lawful and innocent, for reasons good — 
A Nazarite from birth — and ye proclaim, 



DEATH OF JOHN. 107 



Luke 

vii. — 



He has a devil, jealous of his fame. 

The Son of Man ( since not His Kingdom lies ^^ 

In meats and drinks ) in general, gracious wise, 

Eating and drinking came, unbound by rule, 

Severe rigidities of sect or school. 

And ye find fault, and slanderously pretend 

He is a glutton and a drunkard, friend 

Of publicans and sinners. Ye deride, 35 

But Wisdom of her sons is justified." 



The Prophet of the Voice ! 

Made, by Jehovah's choice. 
His Messenger to go before His face ! 

He in the desert bred. 

On hermit's diet fed, 
A coat of camel's hair his loins embrace. 
Hark ! hark ! I hear his warning cry : 
" Repent ! Reform your lives ! the Reign of Heaven 
is nigh," 

Full loud the thunder rolls 
O'er conscience-smitten souls, 



I08 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

And all the land is filled with solemn fears : 
To him vast numbers press 
Out in the wilderness, 

And he baptizes them, baptized before in tears ; 

But Pharisees and Sadducees drives hence. 

Devoid of these wet proofs of honest penitence. 

None of the prophets old, 

So lofty or so bold ! 
No form of danger shakes his dauntless breast : 

In loneliness sublime, 

He dares confront the time. 
And speak the truth, and give the world no rest : 
No kingly threat can cowardize his breath. 
He with majestic step goes forth 1o meet his death. 

Truth may seem stern and proud 

To the misjudging crowd ; 
But Christ's forerunner loving is and mild : 

I hear the tender moan 

Of Pity in each tone — 
A father grieving o'er a wayward child : 
Note too, how meanly he himself doth rate, 
" Myself am a low nothing, Christ alone is great." 



THE PENITENT WOMAN. 



109 



X. 

THE PENITENT WOMAN— THE UNPARDONABLE SIN. 

Luke vii. 36-50. 

A CERTAIN Pharisee, with coarse design, ^""f^ 

Invited Him one day with him to dine 
Ingenious to contrive deliberate slight, 
By failure of each customary rite, 
Of hospitable welcome. While at meat, 
Reclining with unwashed and dusty feet, 
A harlot of the city glided in — 37 

Crushed with the shame and burden of her sin, 
Full of self-loathing for her life abhorred, 
Presuming on the pity of the Lord, 
The Friend of Sinners, whose dear lips had spoken 
Strange words that morn by which l:er heart was 

broken : 
" Come weary souls with heavy guilt opprest 
Come unto Me and I will give you rest !" 

And might she come ? And was not hers a case, 
Beyond the reach and remedy of grace ? — 



no THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

A sinner branded with opprobrious names, ^j^*^ 

O'erwhelmed with infamies, contempts and shames. 
Could Heaven so stoop ? and was it truly so. 
That there was mercy for one sunk so low ? 

Grateful, and sure His condescension such 
He would not shrink from her believing touch, 
She with her brought, to show a dumb regard, 
An alabaster cruse of precious nard ; 
And when she saw Him, to all others blind, ^^ 

She softly stole His blessed feet behind, 
And wet them with her tears profusely shed, 
And wiped them with the tresses of her head, 
And kissed them, poured thereon the rich perfume, 
The costly fragrance filling all the room. 

Meanwhile, much scandalized, the frowning host, 39 
Making His sep'rateness his special boast, 
With cold, disdainful eyes the scene beheld, 
Saw one, a thing for spurning, unrepelled. 
Nay welcomed ; and, indignant at the sight. 
That filled all heaven with pleasure and delight, 
He spake within himself, though not unheard 
The secret thought that his vain bosom stirred : 
" This Man were He a Prophet, would have seen 



THE PENITENT WOMAN. m 

This woman was a sinner, most unclean." ^^""^ 

And Jesus fastened on him eyes that read *° 

All that was passing in his soul, and said : 

" Simon, I have somewhat to say to thee." 

Awed by that look of calm divinity, 

He spake with due respect : " Master, say on ! 

T listen " — his self-confidence half gone. 

" A creditor two debtors had. One owed ^i 

Five hundred pence, for him a heavy load ; 

The other fifty. And when, bankrupt, they *- 

Had not wherewith the smallest part to pay, 

He generously forgave them both. Which then. 

Tell me, will love him most of these two men?" 

Simon replied : " The chance is more than even, 43 
He will love most to whom was most forgiven." 

" Thou hast judged rightly," Jesus said, " and here 
Is confirmation and example clear. 
See'st thou this woman, Simon? I, a guest, 44 

Entered into thy house at thy request. 
Thou gavest Me no water for My feet ; 
But she has washed them with the crystal sweet 
Of weeping eyes ; and wiped and made them fair 
With the abundant tresses of her hair. 



112 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Thou gavest Me no kiss ; but she has since 



Luke 
vii. 45 



I came, her love and sorrow to evince, 

Ceased not to kiss My feet ; nor oil'dst My head ; 46 

But she has on My feet rich spikenard shed. 

Wherefore her sins, though many, are forgiven 47 

By the free favor of approving Heaven. 

For she loves much, proportioned to the grace 

That cancels the demerit of her case. 

But thou lov'st little, if thou lov'st at all, 

With reason, if the needed grace be small : 

Or if thou 'rt pure, and owest naught to Heaven, 

Why love at all, with naught to be forgiven?" 

Jesus then turned, and, her addressing, said : *^ 

" Thy sins forgiven are, be comforted !" 
When they, that sat at meat with Him, began 49 

(Blind to the proof that He was God in Man) 
To question His authority and right 
To sins forgive. He said, from the same height 
Of sole prerogative beyond increase : 
" Woman, thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace !" so 

See, O my soul, see pictured in this case 
The mind of God and methods of His grace ! 
The more, if this be Mary Magdalene, 



MARY MAGDALENE? II3 

The same* who figured in a former scene, ^^^± 

When the dear Lord, not measuring her blame, 

Cast out seven devils from her tortured frame — 

The dread possession having for its cause 

Guilty excess and violated laws. 

Restored to sanity and self-control, 

She melted toward the Power that made her whole. 

As now a backward look remembrance cast 

O'er all the guilty miserable past. 

And her roused conscience, with just terrors tost. 

Saw all too plainly that her soul was lost, 

Thoughts of God's goodness to repentance led, ^°^- 

And opened all the well-springs of her head. 

No longer blind, by a new light within. 

She saw th' exceeding sinfulness of sin ; '^■"- '3 

And shuddering saw its ill desert as well, 

Dreadful and dark and bottomless as hell ; 

Knew that each guilty deed had damning force 

To fill eternity with keen remorse. 

If but the pure in heart God's face shall see. 

What hope was there for one so vile as she ? 

Sincerely penitent, she, ne'ertheless. 
Owed it to Heaven her vileness to confess ; 

* The tradition that identifies the two is an ancient one, and has been accepted by- 
the painters, but rests on doubtful authority. 



114 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



And felt she could shed voluntary tears, 
And make perpetual moan through endless years, 
Because that she had sinned and loved not Love. 
She wept not that she might God's pity move, 
Not to gain favor, but because 't was meet 
With streaming ej^es to wash the Saviour's feet. 
Thus occupied with sorrow and self-blame, 
'T was unexpected when the pardon came. 
If at the gallows' foot there comes reprieve, 
What joy ! but who the rapture can conceive. 
When Lips Divine speak peace, and loving breath 
Remits the sentence of eternal death ? 

Much was forgiven, and she loved much. 
And from that hour was her devotion such. 
She lived to Him alone — her whole delight vti^^ 

Adoring ministries from morn till night : 
Him giving of her substance, to supply 
Shelter and food He was too poor to buy. 
Strange sight ! the Bread of Life oft wanting bread ; 
Lord of all Worlds, nowhere to lay His head ; 
Heir of Eternity, like beggar, He 
From woman's hands accepting charity ; 
Willmg to take what it pleased her to give, 



MARY MAGDALENE? 115 

As if dependent on her help to live. 

Amazing paradox ! the finite set 

Above the Infinite to brin^ God in debt : 

Like ocean, grateful to each drop of rain, 

As though 't were not his own paid back again. 

Her Lord and Saviour saw in her exprest 
Soft love and pity, such as filled His breast ; 
And owned the tears, that for the wretched ran. 
As shed for Him, identified with man. 
All that she did to soothe another's grief, 
He counted ministries for His relief; 
The cup of water to the thirsty given. 
For His dear sake, a favor done to Heaven. 
Ten thousand little acts she valued not. 
By Him remembered though by her forgot, 
Proofs of a love, that did not what it would 
But only that poor something which it could, 
Esteeming it unworthy of regard, 
Laid yet foundations for undreamt reward. 
For God is love, and 'they who in love dwell, 
God dwells in them and they in Him as well. 
Who shall the " Well-done " of the Master win, 
Into His joy at last shall enter in. 



Il6 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

DAVID'S PENITENCE. 

Psalm li. 

Have mercy, my offended God ! 

According to Thy goodness spare ! 
Let not the judgment of Thy rod 

Sink me still deeper in despair ! 

O hear, and my transgressions blot ! 

Save me from my enormous guilt ! 
Wash from my soul each leprous spot 

For Thou canst cleanse me if Thou wilt. 

My sins are mountainous, they climb 
The heights of air and reach the skies ; 

The ghastly horror of my crime 
Is night and day before my eyes. 

'Gainst Thee this odious deed was done ; 

I struck my Maker in the face ; — 
No wonder blushed th' astonished sun, 

And earth saw shudd'ring the disgrace. 

Were not Thy mercies as the sand, 
I do not know, that 1 would dare 



DAVID'S PENITENCE. 

Thus lift to Thee these bloody hands 
In agonizing act of prayer. 

Though well I know, there cries to Thee 
The crimson of th' accusing sod, 

Hide not Thy face, deliver me 

From my bloodguiltiness, O God ! 

Burnt offerings and sacrifice 

Didst Thou desire, I would impart — 
One only Thou wilt not despise, 

A broken and a contrite heart. 

Create in me a heart that's pure ! 

Renew, transform, and make me o'er ! 
Not otherwise can I be sure 

I will not stumble as before. 

By Thy free Spirit me uphold. 
For I am weak and sick and sad ! 

Forgive, and love me as of old, 

And give me back the peace I had ! 

Then to transgressors I will teach, 

How there are none so far from Thee, 

But Thy salvation can them reach. 
For, lo, it did extend to me ! 



117 



Il8 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Luke viii. 1-3. 

Day after day, from early morn till night, ^^^^^ 

Jesus pursued His labors infinite. 
To every city, every village went, 
Preaching and healing — mind and body spent, 
In minist'ring to crowds that round Him pressed ; 
Haggard and worn for want of food and rest. 
And certain women, wonderfully restored ^ 

To health and reason, did not grudge their Lord 
Their service nor their substance nor their life — 
Mary called Magdalene, Joanna, wife 3 

Of Chuza, Herod's steward, aid supplied, 
Susanna too, and many more beside. 

Matt. xii. 24-50 ; Mark hi. 19-35 ; Luke xi. 14-36 ; viii. 19-21. 

The Scribes and Pharisees, with new alarm, ^^^^^2 
The people saw won over by the charm 
Of His most gracious words and godlike acts ; 
Unable to deny th' astounding facts — 
Demons ejected by His simple word. 
No cabalistic formula was heard, * 

* Jewish Cabalists believed that the pronunciation of certain magical words engraved 
on the seal of Solomon would work marvels. " The mightiest of all agencies was the 
unutterable name of Jehovah " ; but in addition to the secret name of God or some of 
the angels, they attributed a magical efficacy to certain mysterious combinations of let- 
ters and numbers, and particular texts of Scripture. 



THE UNPARDONABLE SIN. 119 

A mere, ' Be healed ! ' sufficing for the cure, :;^i^'''! 

Easy, direct, immediate, and sure. 

Though visibly, in all, the Godlike towers, 

High o'er malefic agencies and powers, 

They dare His works bespatter and belie. 

And spit their blasphemies against the Sky — 

Saying, He is Himself possessed, as well. 

And casts out demons by the Prince of Hell ; ="3 

Yea, half persuade, with this invention vain, " 

His friends and family that He 's insane ; 

Who seek to apprehend Him on this ground. 

He said (His foul maligners to confound), 

" No state divided 'gainst itself can stand. '* 

The end of Satan's kingdom were at hand, 

If he against himself should head revolt, '= 

And, leagued with foes, conduct the strange assault. 

If I by Satan demons put to rout in*"; 

By whom then do your children cast them out ? 

Be these your judges. But, if I cast out ^^ 

Demons with God's own finger, then no doubt 

God's Kingdom has come nigh to you. None can "^ 

Plunder a strong man's house, unless some man 

Of greater strength is able him to bind : 

Then can he spoil the spoiler to his mind. 



I20 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Because I stronger am than Satan is, ^**^ 

I wrest from him the prey he holds as his. 

Who is not with Me is to Me adverse — 30 

Not simply neutral is, but something worse. 

Who gathers not with Me, through envy base, 

Scatters abroad and frustrates heavenly grace. 

" Wherefore I say to you, All kinds of sin 31 

And blasphemy may full forgiveness win, 
But blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. 
The grace that saves men to the uttermost, 
And pardons blasphemy against the Son, 32 

Has for this form of sin forgiveness none — 
Not in this world nor in the world to come — 
Closed is the Court, the Advocate is dumb. 

" The fruit decides infallibly the tree— 33 

No case admits of higher certainty. 
For men do never gather grapes of thorns, 34 

Nor figs of thistles. Therefore, he who scorns 
Such final proof, and for some cause denies, 
Dupes his own soul and binds it o'er to lies. 
He treads the crumbling verge of an abyss, 
Who dares discredit evidence like this. 



THE UNPARDONABLE SIN. 121 

" My works of mercy, wrought by power divine, 
Ye to Satanic agenc}' assign. ^?^^ 

Beware, lest sinning thus against the light, 
Ye lose the moral faculty of sight ; 
Commit like Satan the eternal sin. 
And be like him infernalized within ; 
With your own hands the knell of seeing toll, 
And so in outer darkness plunge the soul. 

" To all who ask, the Holy Spirit 's given. 
But, having long and vainly with 3^ou striven, 
Blunting the keenness of His heavenly darts 
On the unyielding hardness of your hearts, 
Found you opposing evermore the right, 
Resisting, grieving, doing .Him despite, 
Till diabolic growm in love and hate — 
What can He do but leave you to your fate ? 
Lost irredeemably who thus blaspheme. 
Trampling the Godhead of the One Supreme. 

" [' False and fair foliaged as the manchineel,'* 
Whose every part dire poison doth conceal. 
Found in the fruit, and present in the wood], 
Entirely evil, how can ye speak good : 35 

Your tongue is slander, and your lips are guile ; 

* Coleridge. 



122 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Your breath ' outvenoms all the worms of Nile ' ; J'lf" 



xu. - 



True to th' abundance of the heart, always, 3* 

The blabbing mouth the character betrays ; 
Hence for each idle word that men let fall 37 

They shall account to the Great Judge of all. 

"An evil generation seeks a sign, 38 

And to its will would sway the Will Divine ; 
Dissatisfied with proofs already given, 
Would dictate hew ones to the God of Heaven. 
One final sign My mission shall attest, 39 

Supreme, unparalleled, unlike the rest — 
As Jonah, three days in the belly slept * +° 

* It is conceivable that Jonah, while in the fish's belly, was in a state of trance. 
Cases are on record, where persons were supposed to be dead, and have been perfect- 
ly conscious of what was ^oing on around them during the preparations for the fun- 
eral. One in point is the well known case of Rev. William Tennent, who died at 
Freehold, N. J., March 8, 1777. When he had nearly completed his theological course, 
he became seriously ill, fell into a catalepsy or trance, and remained for several days 
in a condition of apparent death. His physician perceiving a slight tremor under his 
left arm, refused to consent to his burial ; and although his friends were satisfied he 
was dead, his funeral was postponed for three days, and subsequently for several 
hours, efforts being made meanwhile for his resuscitation, which finally occurred just as 
the physician was giving up in despair. His recovery was slow and painful. He 
stated, that at the moment of his apparent decease, he found himself surrounded by an 
unutterable glory, and saw a great multitude apparently in the height of bliss, sing- 
ing most melodiously ; and that when he was about to join the great and happy multi- 
tude, some one came to him, looked him full in the face and said : " You must go back." 
At the shock this intelligence gave him, he opened his eyes, and finding himself in the 
world fainted. A memoir of him, giving a very full account of his trance was pre- 
pared and published by Judge Elias Boudinot. — Nem American Cyclopedia. 

Hibernation A.nii yEstivation, cal\e& by the Germans, U'intersckla/ {yiinisT sleep) 



THE SIGN OF JONAH. I23 

Of the great fish, miraculously kept — ^s^'i: 

In dreamy trance, the spirit still awake- 
Then to the Lord did supplication make 
Out of the heart of hell, what time below 
The bottoms of the mountains he did go. 
And o'er him all God's waves and billows passed. 
And then alive was on the dry land cast — 
So shall the Son of Man rest in the gloom, 
Three days, of earth's deep heart and teeming womb. 

" The Ninevites shall in the Judgment rise ^' 

And you condemn ; for they did not despise 
The call of Jonah to repent, while here 's 
A greater Jonah speaking to deaf ears. 
The Queen of Sheba shall with wondering mouth 4^ 
Witness against you, for from the far south 

and Soiu»iersc/i/ay (summer sleep), are terms used to denote the torpor or sleep which 
certain animals fall into and remain during the season of cold or heat. During hiber- 
nation (which is by far the most common) the respiration being almost entirely sus- 
pended, the maintenance of vitality depends chiefly on the heart. Animals in this 
state maybe placed in Carbonic Acid, or under water for several hours without injury, 
though they would die in a very /evj minutes in their norvial state. 

" Long continued suspension of consciousness in man is rare in temperate climates, 
but is more frequent in India, where some religious ascetics are stated on unimpeach- 
able authority to possess the power of throwing themselves into a state closely resem- 
bling hibernation for an indefinite period." — Encyclopedia Britanica. 

While the facts concerning Jonah's preservation are no doubt to be considered 
miraculous, it is nevertheless true, that the account given, marvellous as it is, is hardly 
more so than some seemingly well authenticated modern stories told about the Fakirs. 



124 ^^^ LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

She came to hear the words of Solomon, ^^^}: 

While here 's the wisdom of a Greater One. 

" A sick man for a time shall seem to mend, 43 

And deem the foul possession at an end. 
But should there be, as many times it haps, 
From causes blameable, a sad relapse, 
The unclean spirit, multiplied to seven, 44 

Again the blood shall permeate and leaven, 45 

Making his last state than the first far worse — 
So this lapsed generation, more perverse, -^^ 

And more incurable sevenfold has grown, 
Than if it ne'er the wav of life had known." 



Luke 
xi. 27 



A certain woman present cried out : " Blest 
The honored womb that bore Thee, and the breast 
That suckled thee !" He said, " Blest rather they ^^ 
Who hear the word of God, and it obey." 

" Thy mother and Th}^ brethren stand outside," f^{^f^ 
They said, " and wish to see Thee." He replied : 33 
*' Who is My mother and My brethren ? Who, -^+ 
But such as God's commandments hear and do ? " 35 



Another time, when crowds in myriads flocked 
About Him, and approach to Him was blocked 



Luke 
xii. I 



BEWARE OF COVETOUSNESS. 125 



Luke 
xii. — 



By the compactness of this living wall, 
He said to His disciples : " First of all, 
Avoid the leaven of the Pharisee, 
Which is false seeming and hypocrisy : 
In all the veins the dire infection lurks, 
Corrupts the blood and sure destruction works. 
For nothing 's covered up but shall be shown, 
And nothing hid but shall be fully known." 



Luke xii. 13-21 ; xiii. 1-9. 

" Speak to my brother, Rabbi!" one there cried, '3 
" That he th' inheritance with me divide." 
And Jesus said: '' Man ! why to Me refer? h 

For who made Me your judge or arbiter?" 
Addressing those around, He said : " Take heed ! '5 
Beware of covetousness, the sin of greed ! 
For a man's life is of a nature such, 
That it depends not on his overmuch." 
And then He spake to them this parable : ^^ 

" A certain rich man's fertile fields bore well 
And plenteously. And he 'gan on this wise ^^ 

To vainly reason and soliloquize : 
'What shall I do, since Fve no room to store 
The produce of my acres any more ? 



126 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

I'll do what thrift me counsels and forewarns : ^^\l 
I'll pull down present and build greater barns ; 
And there will garner all my goods and grain. 
Then to my soul say, 'Soul, thou hast much gain "^ 
Laid up for many years, so take thine ease 
Henceforth, eat, drink, thyself enjoy, and please.' 
God said to him, ' Thou foolish man, this night -° 

A sudden death thee unprepared shall smite ; 
Then whose shall be the treasures, which thou hast ^' 
Heaped for thyself, and naught tow'rd God amass'd ?' " 

Some persons told Him, and desired His view, •^'"- ' 
Touching the Galileans, Pilate slew. 
Lately, at one of the great yearly feasts. 
Mingling their blood with blood of slaughtered beasts 
Designed for sacrifice : Was theirs the fault ? 
Or his who made the murderous assault ? 
He said : " From facts like these, ye greatly err, ^ 
If ye preeminence of guilt infer. 
These Galileans sinners were 't is true ; 
But think not they were greater ones than you. 
Not special was the judgment on them sent; 
For you shall perish unless you repent. 3 

Nor think those eighteen men, on whom did fall ■^ 



THE SPARED FIG TREE. 127 

Siloam's tower, were sinners above all M^- 

The dwellers in Jerusalem, for you. 

Unless that ye repent, shall perish too." s 

He spake this parable : " A certain man, ^ 

(Be timely warned ! repent ye while ye can !) 
Had planted in his vineyard a fig tree ; 
And dul3% at the proper season, he 
Came seeking- fruit ; but when he found none there. 
He said to the vinedresser in despair, 7 

' Lo, these three years I've seeking come, and found 
No fruit. Why longer cumbers it the ground ? 
Cut th' useless fig tree down.' He answered, ' Sir, ^ 
The order still one other year defer. 
Till I can dig about it and manure. 
Give it this chance to make the matter sure.' " 9 



128 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



E 



XL 

WHAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE. 

Matt. xiii. 1-51 ; Mark iv. 1-32; Luke vin. 4-15. 

NTERING a boat, He sat upon the Sea, 
And taught by parable and simile 
rhe eager thousands gathered on the shore- 
rhe number growing every moment more. 



Mark 
iv. I 



" Hearken ! A husbandman went forth to sow 3 
And as he with free hand the seed did strow, + 

Some by the wayside fell, trod under foot, 
The birds devoured before it could take root. 
Some fell on rocky ground, and sprang up soon, s 
But poorly rooted, withered before noon. ^ 

'Mong choking thorns some fell ; while others found 7 
Propitious lodgment in good mellow ground, ^ 

And multiplied, and brought forth fruit, behold 
Thirty and sixty and an hundred fold. 

He that has ears to hear it, let him hear .' ^ 

To docile minds the hidden truth is clear. 



WHAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE. 

The willful deaf, their ears to wisdom sealed, ■ 

Shut out the grace unwilling to be healed. 

As choice is free, no- power can make men choose 

The heavenly gift of knowledge they refuse : 

But ignorance need never be afraid 

To ask of God explanatory aid ; 

To seekers, and such only, light is given. 

To understand the mysteries of Heaven. 

So when alone, asked by the Twelve to tell. 

The Lord laid open thus the Parable : 

" When one, with dull uncomprehending ears. 
The published Gospel of the Kingdom hears, 
Then comes the Wicked One, like evil bird. 
And snatches up the unregarded word 
On the unloving heart's hard surface strown. 
This is the wayside hearer, vainly sown. 
He that receives the seed on rocky site, 
Is one that hears the word with quick delight, 
But, in himself not having root, soon falls. 
When persecution or distress appalls. 
He, that among the thorns the seed receives, 
Is one w^ho hears the word, and half believes ; 
But worldly cares, and riches' vain pursuit 
9 



129 



I30 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Choking the word, he fails to bring forth fruit. fJ^L^ 
That sown upon good ground, it him denotes, -° 

Who, having heard the word, himself devotes 
To prayerful toil and tillage which ne'er cease, 
And bears and brings forth fruit, and makes increase, 
Out of the heart's enriched and heaven-blest mould, 
Thirty and sixty and a hundred fold. 

Another Parable spake He to show, ^^jf"^ 

" Messiah's Kingdom, set up here below. 
Is like a man, that having good seed sown, 
While his men slept, his enemy, unknown, ^s 

Sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 
When sprang the blade up at a later day ^^ 

And brought forth fruit, appeared the tares likewise. 
Then came his servants, filled with great surprise, ~^ 
And told the householder : ' Sir, didst not thou 
Sow good seed in thy field ? whence came or how 
These tares then that we see ?' He answered, 'One -^ 
Who is an enemy has this thing done.' 
The servants say to him : * Wilt thou we go 
And gather up the tares? ' But he said, ' No, ^^ 

Lest ye root up the wheat. Let them both stand 30 
Untouched till harvest ; then I will command 



WHAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE. i^i 



Matt. 
xiii. — 



The reapers : ' Let it be your first concern, 
The tares to gather, and them bind to burn ; 
But let the ripe and separated corn 
Into my barn in purity be borne,' " 

To His disciples, Jesus then declares 36 

The meaning of the Parable of tares : 
" By Sower of the good seed understand, 37 

The Son of Man, the Tiller of the land. 
The field is the whole world He came to bless : 38 
The good seed are the sons of righteousness. 
The children of the Kingdom : but the tares. 
Sons of the Evil One, sown unawares 39 

By the arch-enemy, the Devil, who 
Wakes to beguile and frustrate and undo 
The benediction of the wholesome wheat, 
With cursing of the poisonous counterfeit :* 
The harvest is the end and final stage 40 

Of the revolving cycles of the age : 
The reapers are the angels — Christ shall send 41 

These forth to gather all things that offend, 

* The plant translated tares is supposed to be identical with the " darnel " {Loliuiii 
temiilcntum)^ a poisonous weed or grass, the grains of which produce vomiting and 
purging, convulsions, and even death. The darnel, before it comes into ear, is very 
similar in appearance to wheat. 



132 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



And them that do iniquity, at last, 
Out of His Kingdom, and they them shall cast 
Into a furnace of devouring fire — 
There shall be wailings loud and anguish dire. 
Then shall the righteous shine forth every one. 
In God their Father's Kingdom, like the sun. 
Wake up the sleeping function of the car ! 
'Tis for your life, consider what ye hear! " 



Matt. 
xiii. — 



Mark 
iv. 26 



" Messiah's Kingdom is," He said again, 
"As if one should into the ground cast grain, 
And then should sleep, and night and day should rise, -7 
And see it spring and grow in unknown wise. 
For of itself the earth, without man's aid, ^^ 

Evolves continuously the sprouting blade. 
The ear, the full corn in the ear : the hand 
Puts in the sickle then and reaps the land." ^9 

He spake another Parable : " Christ's Reign 30 

Is like in its beginning to a grain 31 

Of mustard seed, a man sowed in his field, 
Which is the least of seeds, but holds concealed 3= 
The greatest of all herbs. When grown, a shade 
By its great branches for the birds is made." 



WHAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE. 



133 



Again He said to them : " The Reign of Heaven 
Is like in silent workins^ unto leaven, ^n";, 

A woman hid in a large batch of meal, 
Till every part was made the change to feel." 

'' ' T is like a treasure hidden in a field, 44 

Which a man finding, having it concealed, 
He goes and sells all that he has, and buys 
The field in which the buried treasure lies. 

" 'T is like a merchantman, who everj'where 45 

Roamed, seeking goodly pearls and jewels rare, 
And having found one pearl of worth most strange, ^e 
He sold his ail and gave it in exchange. 

" 'T is like a net, which, cast into the sea, ^^ 

Gathers the good and bad promiscuously : 

When it is full and drawn to shore, then they +^ 

Preserve the good and cast the bad away. 

So shall the wicked from the just at last « 

Be severed bv the angels, and be cast 

Into a furnace of devouring fire, so 

There shall be wailing loud and anguish dire. 

" Have ye these Parables all understood?" 51 

"Yea. Lord ! " the}' promptly answered. "Ver}- good.s^ 
See then 3'e turn them to good use; for each 



134 "^"^ LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Instructed Scribe, that 's qualified to teach, 
Is like a householder who from his store 
Brings forth things new and old laid up before." 



THE SOWER. 



A husbandman went forth to sow : 

And, as with measured step, he swung 
An arm of vigor to and fro, 
The seed he flung. 

Some by the way-side fell, thence soon 
By birds devoured, not taking root ; 
On rocky places some, hot noon 
Withered the shoot : 

Some among choking thorns : but seed 

That into good ground fell, behold ! 
Sprung up and brought forth fruit with speed 
An hundred fold. 

O Saviour ! lest devouring bird, 

Or shallow soil, or choking thorn, 
Frustrate the mercy of Thy word. 
Make sure the corn ! 



THE TEMPEST STILLED. 135 



XII. 

TEMPEST STILLED— AT GADARA— JAIRUS' DAUGHTER. 

Matt. viii. 18-27 ; Mauk iv. 35 — v. 20; Ltke \iii. 22-25. 



NEEDING repose, He said at eventide, 
" Let us OTQ over to the other side ! " 



Mark 
iv. 35 



The multitude dismissing, soon afloat, 36 

They took their wearied Master in the boat. 

Just as He was, and as they sailed. He slept. 

And a great storm of wind came down, and swept 37 

The Lake, and rolled — the while the night grew dark — 

Big angry waves that beat into the bark, 

So that it was now full, and sinking fast. 

Jesus was in the stern asleep. x\ghast, 38 

Come His disciples, and Him roughly shake, 

So deep His slumber, crying, " Master, wake ! 

Carest Thou not we perish?" Straightway, He 

Arose, rebuked the wind, and to the sea 

Said : " Peace, be still ! " And the wind ceased, and 

there 
Was a ofreat calm, and heaven and earth were fair. 



136 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



To His awestruck disciples then He saith : fJ^J 

" Why were ye fearful, ye of little faith?" 
These, filled with wonder, to each other say, +' 

" What Man is this whom winds and waves obey? " 

Preserved alive by these miraculous means, ^^^'^^ 
They reach the country of the Gadarenes — 
Arriving there as day began to break — 
Having passed down the whole length of the Lake : 
The boat forced southward, when the wind was strong, 
Out of its course had made the passage long. 

On a high hill, some distance from the shore, 
Looking far down, a thousand feet or more. 
Stood Gadara, a semi-heathen town, 
Proud of its riches, splendor and renown. 
With its long streets, and double colonnade, 
Its amphitheatre and marts of trade. 
It was no doubt a grand and glorious sight. 
Beheld there glittering in the morning light. 

The limestone cliffs 'bove which the city lay 
Were pierced with natural caves, as at this day — 
For dwellings used, or fashioned into rooms, 
With niches and appliances for tombs. 
The gloomy haunts unholy and defiled 
Of savage men and homeless outcasts wild. 



THE DEMONIAC AT GADARA. 137 

As Jesus left the boat, He met a man ^^^''^ 

Out of the tombs, who towards Him madly ran, 
A fierce demoniac, that none could bind 3 

Or tame; who oft, when he had been confined. 
He chains and fetters had asunder riven, * 

And out into the wilderness been driven. s 

And he would wear no clothes, but, night and day, 
Was in the mountains and the tombs alway, 
Filling the air with bowlings, shrieks, and groans. 
And in his frenzy cutting him with stones. 
And when he Jesus from afar espied, .^ 

He ran and worshipped Him, and loudly cried, 7 

In tones of terror, " What with Thee have I 
To do, Jesus, Thou Son of God Most High ? ^ 

I Thee adjure by God ( I know Thy power) 
Torment me not before th' appointed hour ! " 

And Jesus asked : " What is thy name ?" He said ^ 
'' Legion, for we are many." Then they pled '° 

Most earnestly, that He would not command 
Them to th' abyss, nor drive them from the land. 

Now on the neighboring mountain's steep incline," 
There was seen feeding a great herd of swine : 
Begging to enter these, He gave them leave " 



138 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

('T was meet th' unclean the unclean should receive). 

Then when th' infernal frenzy was transferred, ^^l^ 

The total number of the swinish herd, 

About two thousand, all rushed down the steep 

Into the sea and perished in the deep. 

And the amazed and frightened swineherds fled, '+ 

And in the city and the country spread 

The wondrous tidings, and they came in mass 

To see just what it was had come to pass. 

Gathered to Jesus, they the maniac find 's 

There sitting, clothed, and now in his right mind. 

Then, they, that witnessed it, began to tell, '^ 

What the possessed and what the swine befell. 

Fear springs up quickly in the guilty heart ; 
Because of sin they wish Him to depart. '^ 

The cure was great, no doubt, and all divine, 
But what a loss were the two thousand swine ! 
The men of Gadara the Saviour weighed. 
And found Him wanting by the scales of trade. 
They had the power, if not the right to choose ; 
'T was their one chance to gain life or to lose. 
Had they been wise, they would have urged His stay, 
And not have turned the Lord of Life away. 



JAIRUS' DAUGHTER RESTORED TO LIFE. 13^ 

When entering the boat, the man restored, ^[^''^^ 

Healed with a double healing-, leave implored 
To be with Him, henceforth. But, He said, " No I ^9 
Back to thy house and to thy friends now go, 
And tell them what great things the Lord has done ; 
How He had mercy on the outcast one ! " 
Throughout Decapolis all things he blazed ^'^ 

Jesus had done, and all men were amazed. 

Matt. ix. i, 18-35 ; Mark v. 21-43 ; Luke viii. 41-56. 

The Lord, meanwhile, across the Lake had come -' 
Back to the city of Capernaum. 
And a great multitude, advised before. 
Awaited Him, and welcomed Him ashore. 
Among them one, a ruler of the Jews, ''^ 

Jairus by name, who hearing of the news 
Of His arrival, hastened Him to greet. 
He, when he saw Him, fell down at His feet, ^5 

And said to Him, with tears and sobbing breath, 
" My only child lies at the point of death. 
Come Thou, and lay Thy hands on her, that she 
May be made whole and live. Come instantly I " 

As He went with him — and there went along 
A numerous, hurrying, and pressing throng — 



140 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



A woman ( with incurable complaint, ^^^5 

Of deep defiling ceremonial taint — 

A flow of blood, that baffled had the skill 

Twelve years of all physicians — still, ^^ 

Not getting better, rather growing worse, 

Her living spent, left with an empty purse). 

Of Jesus having heard came in the press, ^^^ 

And with believing fingers touched His dress, '^'^ 

Not doubting healing power there lay concealed ; 

And, lo, straightway, she felt that she was healed. ^^ 

Knowing that from Him virtue had gone out, 

Jesus immediately turned Him about, 30 

And said : " Who touched My clothes just now ? " 

And His disciples said to Him, " See'st thou 31 

The crowd all pressing Thee, and dost Thou ask. 

Who touched Me ? " When the woman saw no mask32 

Could hide her, she came trembling to His feet, 33 

And told how she was healed. In accents sweet 

He said to her : "Thy plague shall henceforth cease.34 

Daughter, thy faith has cured thee, go in peace ! " 

While He yet spake, word came, "Thy daughter 's 

dead, 35 

Why trouble thou the Master?" Jesus said : 36 



JAIRUS' DAUGHTER RESTORED TO LIFE. 141 



Mark 
V. 37 



" Fear not, only believe ! " He suffered none, 
Except the parents, Peter, James and John, 38 

To enter in with Him. " Why weep ? " He said 39 
To weeping friends, " she sleeps, she is not dead — "* 
[Not dead beyond recall. There are two lives, 
And life is while organic life survives.] 
They laugh His words to scorn. These sent awa}', *° 
The others entered where the dead girl lay. 
Taking her hand. He said : " Damsel, arise ! " 41 



* A person lies dangerously ill. At length the eyes close, the breast ceases to heave 
and the heart to beat. We say the man is dead, and say truly. So far as sentient life 
is concerned he is dead absolutely, dead beyond recall. But it does not follow that 
07-ganic life is wholly extinct. Nearly all the tissues retain their vital properties to a 
certain extent for some time afterward. For e.xample, Contractility of the muscular 
fibre, which is a property of life, continues to manifest itself by contractions more or 
less violent, under the action of galvanism and other stimuli. The formation of sugar 
jn the liver is a vital function; and the curious fact has been demonstrated that its pro- 
duction had not ceased twenty-four hours after the death of the animal. It m.ight have 
been literally true, therefore, that the child was both dead and not dead — dead in one 
sense but not in another. 

It would seem more proper to speak of this case, and those other cases of miraculous 
revival recorded, viz., the son of the widow of Nain and Lazarus — as examples of 
resuscitation, i. e., of restoration to [mortal] life, rather than of resurrection from the 
dead, Christ Himself being "the first fruits of them that slept." His case may be re- 
garded as peculiar, inasmuch as there was exemplified in Him both a revival and a true 
resurrection, meaning thereby, the raising up, or assumption of a spiritual body, incor- 
ruptible and immortal. The prophetic words, "Thou wilt not suffer Thy Holy One 
to sec corruption" would seem to indicate that it was intended that struct 11 ralWte 
should not be allowed to become extinct, which might easily have happened without 
a miracle, considering the brief time that He was in the tomb. It is doubtful whether, 
even in the case of Lazarus, who had been dead four days, the organic tie was broken. 
The power of cold in preventing putrefactive changes is wonderfully shown in the 
well known case of the mammoth of the Siberian Cave, the flesh of which was found 
sweet and fresh thousands of years after death. 



142 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

And she, directly, opening her eyes, ^,^^^ 

Rose up and walked, for she was twelve years old. 
And they were much amazed. They then were told,43 
To give her something nourishing to eat ; 
For life is not sustained except by meat. 

Two blind men waited for His coming: out. ^^^^- 

O IX. 27 

As He was passing on His homeward route, 
These followed Him, repeating all the way, 
*' Thou Son of David, pity us, we pray ! " 
Arrived at home, the blind men entered too. ^^ 

" Believe ye," Jesus said, " I can this do?" 
They say, " Yea, Lord ! " He spake, and touched their 
eyes. ^9 

" As is your faith be it to you likewise." 
Straightway their eyes were opened, and He said : 3° 
" Let no man know it !" But they disobeyed. 31 

As they went forth a dumb man was brought in, 32 
Who with a demon long possessed had been ; 
His powerful word the devilish thraldom broke, 33 
And the freed tongue loud hallelujahs woke. 
Blaspheming Pharisees said : " By, no doubt, 34 

The Prince of demons, demons He casts out." 



THE TWELVE SENT OUT. 



143 



XIII. 

TWELVE SENT OUT— FIVE THOUSAND FED— TRUE BREAD. 

Matt. ix. 35-38; x. i, 5-39; Mauic vi. 6-13 ; Luke ix. 1-6. 



Matt- 
ix- 35 



A ND Jesus went about from place to place, 
-^ -^ Employed in arduous ministries of grace : 

But when He saw the multitude, and knew, 36 

How dark their state, and how distressful too, 

Like sheep without a shepherd, all astray, 

With no sure hand to guide them in the way — 

Moved with compassion, boundless as the sea, 

He said to His disciples : " Verily, ' 37 

Abundant is the harvest, but how scant 

And few the laborers ! To meet this want. 

Pray, that the great Lord of the harvest send 38 

Into His harvest laborers without end." 

And Jesus sent the Twelve, and gave for seal ^- s 
Them power to cast out demons, and to heal : 
And charged them, saying : '' As by twos ye go, 
Go not, this time, among the Gentiles ; no. 
Nor any city of Samaria 



144 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Matt. 
X. 6 



Enter, but go ye rather to the stray 

And lost sheep of the house of Israel. 

And as ye go, proclaim aloud and tell ^ 

The Reign of Heaven impends. The sick restore ; 

The lepers cleanse ; make live the dead once more ; ^ 

Cast demons out — not for reward or fee. 

Free your receivings, be your givings free. 

Nor, for your journey, do yourselves equip 9 

With money in your girdles ; nor with scrip ; ^° 

Nor with two coats ; nor staves ; nor shoes for feet — 
Because the workman 's worthy of his meat. 
Salute no man, nor linger by the way : " 

Into whatever house ye enter, stay ^- 

Content till ye go thence ; and peace implore 
Upon the house as ye pass in the door — 
Peace on the house, if worthy, shall remain ; ^3 

If not, to you it shall return again. 
And whosoever shall you not receive, ^+ 

Nor hear your words, as you the city leave. 
The dust shake from your feet — a fiercer doom ^'^ 

Than Sodom's or Gomorrah's shall consume. 
He that hears you, hears Me ; despising you, 
He Me despises and My Father too. 



THE TWELVE SENT OUT. 



" Behold, I send you, as defenceless sheep 



145 



Matt. 

.X. 16 



Forth in the midst of wolves and perils deep. 

Be wise as serpents, harmless be as doves ; 

Exceed all hatreds by outnumbering- loves. 

Be on your guard against malicious men, ' 

Who lie in wait to find occasion, then 

Stand ready to the Councils to betray — 

The Sanhedrim and lesser ones — for they 

Will scourge you in the synagogues ; and ye 

'Fore kings and governors shall cited be ■ 

On My account, to testify the true 

Against the false of Gentile and of Jew. 

Be not solicitous and in suspense ' 

About what ye shall sa}^ in your defence ! 

Appropriate speech that hour shall 3-ou be given. 

For 't is not you that speak but Power from Heaven — ^ 

The Holy Spirit shall A^our cause defend, 

Shall be your Spokesman, Advocate and Friend." 

Strange heart of man ! so mad against the truth. 

Bloody, unnatural, and void of ruth ; 

Hating the light with hatred so intense, 

God's saving Word 's a furious offense. 

All holy ties, not meant to have an end, 

See Bigotry's red hand stretched forth to rend ! 



146 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

" Brother shall yield his brother up to death ; ^^f^ 
Father his child ; and with unfilial breath 
Children their parents shall accuse ; and ye, 
The special objects of men's hate shall be, '"' 

For M}' name's sake. But whoso shall endure 
Down to the end makes his salvation sure ! 

" If in one city they shall you oppose, ^3 

Flee to another ; sure, in spite of foes, 
The truth shall prosper, and the seed take root 
In hearts of not a few, and bring forth fruit. 
Ere 30ur round 's finished, make what speed you can, 
Already will have come the Son of Man : 
In no gross sense His Kingdom will appear, 
Being within you, it is now and here. 

" Expect hard usage. A disciple 's not ^+ 

Above his Master. Learn to bear your lot. 
It is enough, if the disciple fare ^5 

E'en as his Master, and the servant share 
The treatment of his Lord. If they traduce 
And Me revile, they '11 not spare you abuse. 
Fear not ! Be stout of heart ! Keep nothing back, ^^ 
Though thousand slanders bay along your track ! 
There 's nothing covered but shall be revealed — 



THE TWELVE SENT OUT. 



147 



No guilt, no innocence shall lie concealed. ^'.*"- 

I have no secrets for the favored few, ="7 

No esoteric teachings meant for 3'ou : 
That told vou in the dark, speak in the light ; 
That whispered in your ear, tell from a height. 

"Be jiot afraid of them who can control =^ 

The bodv's life, but cannot kill the soul ; 
But fear Hmi rather, who has power as well 
That to destroy, and both cast into hell. 
Are not two sparrows for a farthing sold ? ^9 

Yet not one falls without your Father — told 
And numbered are your head's unvalued hairs — 3° 
Who cares for sparrows much more for you cares, s' 
The brave for truth and right with love inflamed, 32 
Who Me 'fore men confesses, unashamed, 
I '11 him confess, and openly will own 
Before My Father seated on His throne. 
But whoso shall deny Me before men, 33 

Him I'll denv before My Father then. 

" Though peace was sung by angels at M3' birth, 34 
I came not to send peace upon the earth ; 
Rather a sword. For that the peace I bring, 
Only from inward purit}' can spring. 



148 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Where this is not, there flows a muddled stream, ^^^^"■ 

Foul with all lusts and enmities extreme. 

Peace is impossible where hatreds dwell, 

Else ye might seek it in the heart of hell. 

See Love the smitten cheek turn to the foe ] 

The very meekness prompts the second blow. 

When the fierce vulture tears it from above, 

'T were wrong to blame the unoffending dove. 

Peace walks with Love in a retired path, 

When, forth from ambush, springs the waiting Wrath. 

It needs must be, so long as Sin remains 

Li throned possession of the heart and brain. 

There should be fierce antagonisms abroad. 

And war against the government of God. 

" I come to set at variance and strife 35 

A man against the author of his life ; 
The daughter 'gainst the mother : among those 
Of his own household shall be found his foes. 36 

Who father loves and mother more than Me, 37 

Unworthy My disciple is to be. 
And who that loves a son or daughter more — 
Putting mere natural loves My love before, 
Preferring these to the transcendent claims 
Of Duty under all its various names — 



THE TWELVE RETURNED. 



149 

Matt. 



Of true discipleship he gives no sign, 
And is unworthv to be reckoned Mine. 

" Who follows Me, he must himself deny : 38 

All evil lusts and likings crucify, 
Nail them as malefactors to the cross, 
And count all sinful gains eternal loss. 
Who for M3' sake shall cowardly refuse 39 

To risk his life, his life of life shall lose ; 
While he, who freely gives his life away, 
Shall find it glorified some future da)-." 

When Jesus of His charge had made an end — ^'- ^ 
Giving it scope, all time to comprehend. 
To fortify them against trials near. 
And persecutions through their whole career — 
The Twelve went forth, and preached men should 
repent, ^^^^ 

And healed and cast out demons as they went. 
But the great Master did not, for this cause, 
In His undelegated labors pause. 

M.\TT. XIV. 13-36 ; Mark vi. 30-56 ; Luke ix. 10-17 ; John vi. 15-69. 

Once more the Apostles were together brought, 
And told to Jesus all they did and taught. l\^') 



150 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

" Come ye apart," He said with gracious smile, ^-^"^ 

"Into a desert place and rest awhile." 

For crowds that came and went so thronged His feet, 

They had not leisure so much as to eat. 

Therefore, by boat they privately withdrew. 32 

But many saw them leaving who them knew ; 33 

So, running round on foot, got there before 

Th' unhurrying boat had reached the farther shore. 

He going forth — instead of sharp protest 34 

Against this rude frustration of His rest — 

Seeing the multitude, like sheep without 

A shepherd scattered all forlorn about — 

Full of sweet pity, with entrancing speech 

Things that concerned their peace began to teach. 

His voice rang music ffom the mountain height, 

And ears drank in an infinite delight. 

So sweet the time, the hours unnoticed passed, 

Till the descending sun long shadows cast. 

Then His disciples coming to Him say : 35 

" This is a desert place, send them away, 36 

That they may go somewhere them bread to buy : 
For here they've naught to eat, and night is nigh." 
The God-man answers: " Give ye them to eat I" 37 
They say : " Two hundred pennyworth of meat 



FIVE THOUSAND FED. 151 

Would not suffice to give a taste to each ; ^-^"^ 

Their needs our means of purchase far outreach." 
He asks : " How many loaves have ye ? Go sec I" 38 
They, learning, say : "Five, and two fishes." He, 39 
When they were brought to Him, at once commands, 
That all be made to lie down there in bands ^° 

On the green grass — disposed in rank and file 
By hundreds and by fifties, in short while^ 
Numb'ring about five thousand. Jesus took +^ 

The five loaves and two fishes, and with look 
Turned heavenward, blessed the loaves, and forthwith 

brake. 
And gave to His disciples, charged to make 
Free distribution until all were fed ; 
With the two fishes following the bread. 
When all were filled, then spake th' Almightv Host : +^ 
" Gather the fragments up that naught be lost !" 
Thc}^ filled (so strangely had the loaves increased) •♦s 
Twelve baskets with the remnants of the feast. 

Rose from th' excited throng the whispered hum, {.';''/] 
•' Truly this is the Prophet that should come — 
Greater than Moses, who our fathers fed 
With manna — multiplying common bread : 



152 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Let US by force, if need be, make Him King." J°^ 

When Jesus saw they bent were on this thing, ^s 
He straightway bade the Twelve to seek the shore, 
And to Bethsaida go by boat before, ^[^^"^^ 

While He the multitude should send away. ^3 

Alone He climbed the mountain there to pray. 

The chill of early Spring was in the air, 
But Jesus knew what strength was found in prayer ; 
That weary hearts obtain divinest rest, 
When sweetly pillowed on the Father's breast. 
Darkness came on, but light from moon* and star 
Served to make objects visible afar ; 
And 'Jesus saw, reclining on the steep, ^4 

Tempestuous winds the Lake's dark waters sweep. 
And saw, some thirty furlongs from the shore. 
His worn disciples toiling at the oar, 
By baffling winds and waves now wholly spent. 
And, in the fourth watch of the night, He went ^3 
Towards them, walking on the sea. The sight ^^ 

Filled the amazed disciples with affright. 
" It is a spectre !" cried they out for fear. 
And Jesus straightway spake : " Be of good cheer ! 

* It being on the eve of the Passover (see John vii.) the moon must have been near 

its full. 



WALKING ON THE WATER. 153 



Matt, 
xiv. — 



'T is I, )'our loving Lord, be not afraid ! " 

Impetuous Peter then transported said : -^ 

" Lord ! bid me come to Thee, if it be Thou, 

L^})on the water." " Come ! I thee allow." ^9 

Leaving the boat, he on the waters stept, 

To go to Jesus — fear one moment slept — 

When rough winds blew a loud and angrier gust, ^° 

Buoyant from vanity and not from trust, 

His feet began to stagger on the wave, 

And sinking fast, he cried out : " Master, save ! " 

He said, while seizing him with hand stretched out, 31 

"O thou of little faith! why didst thou doubt?" 

Aboard, winds ceased, or changed to zephyrs bland,^^ 

And, lo, the bark came instantly to land. 

Kneeling they worshipped Him and said, "Thy nod 33 

All things obey. Thou art the Son of God I " 

When people came next day, and could not find {."''^" 
Jesus, Who, they supposed, had stayed behind — 
Knowing there was no boat, except the one 
Which the disciples bore, and them alone — 
Thev thought, as boats had from Tiberias come, ^3 
He might have crossed back to Capernaum. ^■^ 

So passing o'er the Lake they sought Him there, 



154 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



And drawing nigh addressed Him speeches fair : J?^" 

" Rabbi, when cam'st Thou hither? " Jesus said : ^^ 

" Ye seek Me selfishly for sake of bread. 

Work not for food, which perishes each hour, ^7 

But food which is eternal life and power — 

That which the Son of Man will give to you : 

For Him has God the Father sealed as true. 

" What works," they asked, " does God claim at our 
hands?" ^^ 

" This work," He said, " He first of all demands, ^9 
That ye believe on Him whom He has sent — 
By works of God this work is chiefly meant." 
They, therefore, said : " If sent from God, what sign 3° 
Show'st Thou to prove Thy mission is divine ? 
What greater work than Moses workest Thou, 
That we should Thy superior claims allow ? 
Our fathers in the wilderness were fed 31 

With ceaseless manna — Moses gave them bread 
From heaven to eat, not once, but day by day. 
While Thou dost stop at yesterday's display." 

Then Jesus said : " The bread, by Moses given, 32 
Was not the true and proper Bread from Heaven ; 
But that, My Father gives you, is the true 33 



THE TRUE BREAD. 153 

Life-giving Bread of God come down to you, ■!"'!!! 

And all the world." Missing the sense, they said : 
" Lord, give us now and evermore this bread ! " 3+ 

Then He : " I am the Bread of Life, therefore, 3s 
Who comes to Me shall never hunger more. 
And who believes on Me shall never thirst. 
But, as 1 told you plainly at the first, 3^ 

Though ye have seen Me, ye do not believe. 
All who will come I willingly receive. 37 

Ye frustrate not My mission who reject : 
'T is as the Father not as ye elect. 
I came from heaven to do not Mine own will, 38 

But all the Father's pleasure to fulfill. 
The will of Him Who sent Me now is this : 39 

Of all which He has given Me I should miss 
Nothing — that every sorrowing one, ^° 

Who weeping comes, believing on the Son, 
Should perish not, but endless life obtain, 
And I at last should raise him up again." 

Accustomed long, their worldliness and pride •♦' 
Under some cloak of sanctity to hide. 
They murmured He descent from Heaven should 
claim, 



156 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Knowing they said His orig-in and name. Jp^^^ 

Aware, the secret of their discontent 

Was that He to their schemes refused consent, 

Jesus then said : "Cease cavil ! 'T is Love's law, « 

None comes to Me except the Father draw. 44 

Whether ye come, or whether ye depart, 

'T is all the same unless ye bring your heart. 

'T is in the prophets written and foretold, ^s 

'And they shall all be taught of God.' The old 

Is soon to cease. I come to build the new, 

And end all tvpes b}* offering up the true. 

He, Who by prophets once His will made known, 

Has in these last days spoken by His Son. 

No one has seen the Father, only He -^^ 

Who is from God. Who hears Him, comes to Me. '■^ 

I am the Living Bread, the Heavenly Food, ^^ 

And He that eats My flesh and drinks My Blood -^^ 

Has life eternal. He in Me abides, 5° 

And I in him in flowing crimson tides." 51 

Said many of His disciples, when they heard, ^^ 
" 'T is a hard saying and a staggering word." 

And Jesus said to them : " Does this offend ? ^' 

What if ye see the Son of Man ascend ^^ 



THE TRUE BREAD. 



157 



Up where He was before ? He'll still refresh l^^_^ 
Like food — the spirit quickens, not the flesh, ^3 

Which profits nothing. Lo ! the words I speak 
Are spirit and are life. The truth there seek. 
'T is not gross feeding and digesting meats — 
He that believes appropriates and eats." 

Many, who His disciples were before, ^^ 

From this went back, and walked with Him no more. 
He to the Twelve : " Go ye away also ? " ^7 

And Peter said : " To whom. Lord, shall we go? ^^ 
Thou hast the blessed words, and Thou alone, 
Of life eternal. We believe and own ^ 

Thou the Messiah art, th' Anointed One, 
And of the Living God th' undoubted Son." 




158 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



MORNING HYMN. 

Before the lark had left his nest, 

And at heaven's gate poured forth his lay, 
My wakeful soul was up and drest, 

And had gone up to meet the Day : 
On wings of love and strong desire upborne, 
Saluted the Original of Morn. 

Light of the World ! when Thou dost rise 

On the horizon of my heart, 
How quickly every sorrow flies. 

And shadows of the night depart ! 
Thy rays so tempered to the thirsty sight, 
It drinks unharmed the deluge of delight. 

Come, my Desire ! my spirit's Need ! 

My Morning Manna ! Heavenly Bread ! 
Incarnate Love ! on Thee I feed. 

By Thy humanity am fed, 
And, changed from glory unto glory, grow 
To bear Thy blessed image here below. 



WHAT DEFILES. 159 



XIV. 

WHAT DEFILES— SEVEN THOUSAND FED. 

Matt. w. 1-20; Mark vii. 1-23. 

SENT from Jerusalem, came Pharisees ^v."' 

And Scribes to watch Him. And, when these 
Saw some of His disciples eat with hands ^ 

Unwashed, 'gainst the traditions and commands 
Delivered of the elders, they found fault, 
Saying : " Whence comes this scandalous revolt 
Of Thy disciples, daring to transgress 
Ancient traditions in their sacredness ?" 
And Jesus said: " Ye hypocrites! Most true ^ 

Is that Isaiah prophesied of you : 
' This people with their lips Me homage pay. 
But their unloving hearts are far away.' 
In vain they worship Me, howbeit, when 
They teach for doctrine the commands of men I 
You charge transgression. How dare you transgress 3 
God's dread commandment, solemn and express. 
By your traditions, frivolous and vain, 



Matt. 

X¥. — 



l6o THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Annulling duties positive and plain ? 

* Honor thy father and thy mother too,' 

Moses has said, ' pay filial reverence due ; 

And whosoever curses with vile breath 

Father or mother shall be put to death !' 

But ye maintain, if one averse, shall say 

Or to his father or his mother : ' Nay ! 

That which I have by which I might thee aid, 

Is'Dedicated,' then his debt is paid — 

Making the word of God, through this respect 

To your traditions, all of none effect." 

Calling He spake to those on either hand : 
" Hearken to Me each one and understand. 
Not things which go into the mouth defile ; 
But that which issues from the mouth is vile. 
Whoso has ears to hear it, let him hear. 
The meaning to the pure in heart is clear." 

Said His disciples : " Know, Thou didst displease 
Greatly, by what Thou saidst, the Pharisees." 
He said : " My Father will each plant uproot 
Not of His planting, and of evil fruit. 
Let them alone — blind leaders of the blind. 
A fall into the ditch they both will find." 



THE SYROPHENICIAN WOMAN. i6i 

When from the people Jesus had withdrawn, l[^^^- 
And with the Twelve into the house had gone — 
Themselves in doubt — they begged the Lord to tell 
The meaning of the spoken Parable. 

" Are ye so void of understanding too ? ^* 

Perceive ye not, 't is not what enters you '7 

Defiles? The mouth receives the welcome food, 
And clean digestions sift out all the good. 
But what comes from the mouth, comes from the heart, 
And these pollute the man in every part. '^ 

For from within the human heart proceed ^? 

Adulteries, fornications, murders, greed, 
Thefts, wantonness, deceit, an evil eye. 
Pride, malice, foolishness, and blasphemy. 
These are the things which render a man vile— ^° 
To eat with unwashed hands does not defile. 



Matt. xv. 21-38 ; Mark vii. 24-37 ; ^'H'- i-9- 

To hide Himself awhile from public view, 
Jesus arose, and to the coast withdrew 
Of Tyre and Sidon. Entering a house there 
He could not keep concealed with all His care. 
For, lo, a certain woman, born a Greek, 
A Syrophenician, made haste to seek 
The Mighty Healer out. She, at His feet 



Matt. 



l62 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Falling, with cries Him ceased not to entreat ^y*- 

To help her daughter, grievously possessed 

Now with a demon. He her faith to test, ^^ 

Said to her : " Let the children first be fed. 

It is not good to take the children's bread 

And cast it to the dogs." " Though this be meet, ^^ 

Yet, Lord, the dogs the children's crumbs may eat 

Which from the master's table fall." He saith, ^^ 

All sternness gone : " O woman, great thy faith ! 

For this word, go thy way ! faith hath such power. 

Thy daughter is made whole from this same hour." 



Mark 
vii. 31 



And He departing not long after this, 
Passed through the precincts of Decapolis. 
Returning to the Sea of Galilee, 
Like as before He caused the blind to see ; ^v% 

The deaf to hear ; the dumb moreo'er to talk ; 
Cured the deformed,* and made the cripple walk. 
His healing power, though limitless and swift. 
That moral profit might attend the gift, 
Conditioned was on a receiving mind, 

* The primary and proper meaning of Kv7ikb(^ is crooked. The term would apply to 
a large class of deformities both of the trunk and the limbs. One of the epithets of 
Vulcan, who was born lame, was Kv7j.bno6iuv—ctooV.-ioo\.^6. [club-footed?]. So 
far as we know Christ never created a lost member ; and so " maimed " is probably 
an incorrect rendering here, although the right one Matt, xviii. 8. 



SEVEN THOUSAND FED. 163 

And SO to no one method was confined. l\^_^h 

Sometimes He chose, removed by miles of space, 
To make the air the channel of His grace ; 
Sometimes He smeared blind eyes with moistened 

cla}' 
In aid of faith, and then poured in the day. 

They brought to Him a man both deaf and dumb : ^if 3^ 
No sound of words could ever to him come, 
And so by signs alone, addressed to sight, 
Could he be made to understand aright. 
His fingers, wet with spittle, He applied 33 

Then to his ears, and touched his tongue, and sighed 
As He looked up to heaven, then broke the chain, 34 
Saying, " Be opened ! " and the man spake plain. 35 
And they the God of Israel praised aloud. 
Again He sought a refuge from the crowd. 

Once more the Lord of Nature, and our Lord, ^"'- ' 
Vouchsafes to spread His hospitable board 
To meet the needs of a vast multitude 
Hungry from being three days without food. 
When He purveys 't is on a scale immense ; 
All forces troop to His omnipotence ; 
The powers of nature haste at His command 
To pour the fulness of the sea and land ; ' 



164 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

While all the mighty angels of the sky vin^— 

Upon His errands ready are to fly. 
How awful is He ! how august ! how great ! 
But then how human ! how compassionate ! ^ 

With tenderness unspeakable, He says ^f^ 

To His disciples : " During threejuli days, 
These, fasting, Me have ceased not to attend. 
Some came from far, and I will not them send 3 

Away, lest they faint on the road, unfed." 
They say : " Whence can we get supply of bread, '^ 
Here in the distant wilderness ? " " Tell Me," 
The Master saith, " how many loaves have ye ?" 5 

They say : " Seven and a few small fishes." When 
The multitude had all sat down, He, then 
Took the seven loaves and giving thanks, them broke — 
Each fragment multiplying as He spoke 
In His creating hands to more and more — 
Then gave to His disciples, who them bore 
To all the wondering people. Having blessed ? 

The fishes, these were given with the rest. 
When all had eaten, and were satisfied, ^ 

They gathered up seven baskets full beside. 
There were who ate four thousand men about, ^ 

Women and children in the count left out. 



THE TRANSFIGURATION. 



165 



J 



XV. 

TRANSFIGURATION— DEMONIAC CURED— DUTIES. 

M.\TT. xvi. 13-20; M.'VRK VIII. 27-30; Like ix. 18-21. 

ESUS, with might}' labors overtasked, ^If^' 

While on a journey, His disciples asked 
" Who do men say I am?" They answered, "John '3 

The Baptist ; some Elijah ; others one m 
Of the old Prophets, risen from the dead." 

" But who say 3'e I am?" the Master said. 's 

Peter replied : " Thou art the Christ of God."* • 

He charged them not to publish it abroad. 2° 

Jesus from this time forth began to show " 

To His disciples, how that He must go 
Up to Jerusalem, and that while there 
Much cruel treatment must be made to bear — 
False accusations, mockings, scourgings, blows, 
From elders, chief priests, scribes, His murderous foes, 
And be rejected of them, and then slain ; 
And after three days' burial rise again. 

* See The Evangel, pp. 177-81. 



l66 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Matt. 

XVi. 22 



He spake this openly. And Peter took 

His Lord aside, and 'gan Him to rebuke : 

" Be this far from Thee, Lord ! This shall not be !" 

But, turning. He to Peter said : " Get thee ^^ 

Behind Me, Satan, thou art an offense — 

Not savoring things of God but things of sense." 

Matt. xvii. 1-13 ; Mark ix. 2-13 ; Luke ix. 28-36. 

After six days of loving labors done, j-^^l 

Jesus apart took Peter, James, and John 
To a high mountain-top, and while in prayer ^^ 

He was transfigured in their presence there. 
His face was as the sun, intensely bright ; 
And all His raiment glittering and white. 
And with Him talking, lo, two men were seen, 3° 

Of glorious aspect and majestic mien, 
E'en Moses and Elijah, who then spake 3^ 

Of His decease, which should atonement make. 
To take place at Jerusalem ere long. 
Their eyes, fatigued and dazed with light too strong, 32 
Grew heavy — Peter's and the rest— with sleep. 
But when they woke from slumber brief and deep, 
They saw His glory and the men. As they 33 

Were parting from Him, to prolong their stay, 



THE TRANSFIGURATION. 167 



Peter said, " Master ! it is good for us i^"'!f 

All to be here — Heaven's pomp around us thus — 
Let us three tabernacles make, to be 
For Moses and Elijah and for Thee" — 
Not knowing what to say or what he said, 
For they were in a maze and sore afraid. 

While he thus spake, from out a covering cloud 34 
There came a Voice, divinely sweet and loud, 35 

Which said, " Lo, this is My Beloved Son, 
Hear Him !" It ceased, and He was found alone. 36 
They kept it close, as Jesus to them said, 
Till after He had risen from the dead. 
In doubt what rising from the dead should mean, 
They yet spake naught of those things they had seen. 

Matt. xvii. 14-21 ; Mark ix. 14-29; Luke ix. 37-43. 

Next day, when they were come down from the hill,37 
He saw great multitudes assembled still ; ^l'^^^^^ 

And the disciples, who remained below, 
Disputing with the Scribes, that sought to throw 
Shame on late failure. When the people saw '5 

The jVIaster coming, they were struck with awe. 
And ran forth to salute Him. He, the Scribes '^ 

Addressing, asked the reason of their gibes. 



Mark 
ix. 17 



168 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Then kneeling came to Him a certain one, 
Who said : " Master, have pity on my son, 
For he 's a lunatic. All miawares. 
The demon takes him, throws him down and tears, 
The while he foams and grinds his teeth ; at length, 
He lies exhausted, drained of all his strength. 
And I to Thy disciples spake, but they, 
Trying to cast him out, failed in the essay." 

" O generation, faithless and perverse ! 

How long shall I be with you, and rehearse 

The same old lesson ? How long suffer you ? 

Bring thy son hither !" When he came in view. 

Straightway the spirit tare him — with mad bound 

He, falling, rolled there, foaming, on the ground. 

He asked his father: " How long may it be. 

Since this him first befell ?" " Since infancy," 

He said : " It has him often in the past 

Into the fire, into the water cast, 

Him to destroy. But if Thou canst do aught, 

Pity and help and let a cure be wrought." 

" All things are possible, if thou canst believe — 

A little faith can mightiest things achieve." 

The father said, with pleading tones of grief, 
" Lord I believe ; help Thou my unbelief!" 



THE DEMONIAC CURED. 169 

Then Jesus spake once more the word of power, j^^^^ 
And the possession ceased from that same hour. ^^ 
And the disciples asked Him privately : ^^ 

"Wherefore could we not cast him out?" And He 
Said unto them : '' The reason was in brief xwt."2o 

Th' exceeding- greatness of your unbelief. 
For, I declare, if you, in yery deed, 
Haye faith but as a grain of mustard seed, 
Ye to this mountain, stablished on its base. 
Might boldly say, ' Remoye to yonder place !' 
And it should pass. Yea, all things ye could do. 
And naught should be impossible to you." 

Who rightly trusts, with him diyinely draws, 

The Cause of causes, and the Law of laws. 

Nothing 's too difficult beneath the skies. 

For God's vicegerent, be it fit and wise — 

Not that Omnipotence must bend to him, 

And be the tool of vanity and whim. 

A harder task than demons to expel 

Is sin to slay, and balk the pOAvers of hell. 

Of all achievements, this is first and best, 

To triumph o'er the tyrants of the breast. 

Not without prayer and fasting'can take place ^^"• 

These mightier miracles of healing grace. 



XVII 21 



I^O THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

FAITH. 

The world is full ol pain ; 

Fierce sickness binds it fast ; 
And none can break the chain, 

That sin has round it cast : 
Philosophy essays, 

x\nd Science goes about 
In many bootless ways, 

To cast the demon out: 
They magnify th' unchanging reign of law, 
And preach the gospel of the tooth and claw.* 

Ne'er wizard wove a spell 

That could the fiend eject ; 
But Faith the miracle 

Can easily effect : 
What not the law could do. 

Through weakness of the flesh, 
This strong is to renew. 
And nature mould afresh : 
Can bring down Heaven to exorcise my grief — 
" Lord, 1 believe, help Thou my unbelief ! " 

*To men that "bite and devour one another," the Agnostic assurance, that what 
they do is but the normal and necessary outcome of the predatory instinct which they 
possess in common with all beasts of prey, may be comforting, but can hardly be 
deemed reformatory. If the primitive man was all beast in his origin and develop- 
ment, it is difficult to see, why he is more to blame than lions and tigers in obeying 
the promptings of his nature. Infidel science prides itself on its microscope and tele- 
scope, but finds no use for moral and spiritual lenses by which God is discovered and 
the infinite sweep of moral law is discerned. 



WHO SHALL BE GREATEST? 171 

Matt. xvii. 24- 7 . Mark ix. 30. 

Come to Capernaum where He abode, xv\?."24 

Collectors said to Peter on the road : 
" Does not your Master temple-tribute pay ? " 
Peter without just warrant answered, " Yea ! " ^s 

Entering the house, ere he had time to speak, 
Jesus said : " Simon, I thy answer seek. 
What thinkest thou ? Of whom do kings of earth 
Tribute exact ? Of sons of royal birth, 
Or strangers ? " Peter said, "Of strangers." "See, -^ 
Then," Jesus said, "the sons by right are free. 
But to avoid offense, go to the Lake, -7 

Throw line, and the first fish that's hooked, that take ; 
Opening its mouth thou shalt a stater* see. 
Take it and give it them for Me and thee." 
Opposed to the infinitudes of chance, 
How all surveying His omniscient glance ! 
Ten thousand proofs are here to end dispute 
That He of Godhead lacks no attribute. 

Matt, xviii. 1-35 ; Mark ix. 33-50 ; Luke ix. 46-50. 

While in the house. He asked the Twelve one day, 
" What was it ye debated by the way ? " ^^^'^^^ 

They held their peace, for they had had debate, 34 

* A stater was a Greek silver coin, equal to four drachmas or 72 cents. 



172 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Who of themselves might hope to be most great, j^"**^' 

Later they asked, that answer might be given, 

Who should be greatest in the Reign of Heaven ? ^^f^l;^ 

He said : " If any man seek first to be, 

Let him be last in all humility. 

He who contends for precedence and place, 

Forfeits all standing in the Realm of Grace." 

Taking a child,* He held it up to view, ^ 

And said to them : " In truth I say to you, 3 

Except ye be converted, and be freed 

From vain ambitions and from worldly greed. 

E'en as this child, ye— shut out by your sin — 

Into My Kingdom cannot enter in. 

The low is high, the greater is the less, -^ 

The mean is but inverted nobleness. 

Take heed how ye despise My little ones, ^° 

Who have the rights and privileges of sons. 

In heaven their angels, ministers of grace. 

Behold perpetually My Father's face. 

For I am come to save that which is lost " 

At every sacrifice and any cost." 

* "Was it Peter's child ?" Peter was so childlike a man, some have fancied that the 
child of one so childlike might properly serve as a typical example of genuine child- 
likeness. All childre!! are not childlike. 



THE RULE OF FORGIVENESS. 



173 



Matt, 
.wiii. 21 



" Lord ! " Peter asked, " my duty to fulfill 
How oft must I forgive a brother ? Till 
Seven times ? " ''I say not seven, " He replied, " 
" But seventy times seven and more beside. 
Therefore My Kingdom answers to a king, ^3 

Who with his servants sought a reckoning. 
One, who ten thousand talents owed, was brought : ^+ 
But, forasmuch as he to pay had naught, ^5 

His lord, to get back some of his lost gold, 
Commanded him, and all his to be sold. 
He, falling down before him, pled,* and prayed : ^^ 
" Have patience with me and thou shalt be paid." 
He moved with pity, having him unbound, '^^ 

Forgave the debt. The same went out, and found ^^ 
One of his fellow servants, who him owed 
One hundred pence. He fiercely toward him strode. 
And took him by the throat, and loudly said : 
" Pay what thou owest me ! " He, kneeling, pled, -9 
"■ Have patience with me and I will thee pay." 
But he refused to wait, and went straightway, 30 

And into prison ruthlessly him threw, 
Till he should pay the utmost that was due. 

* " Against her //e^."— Spencer. " She //f^/ her cause." — C. Kingsley. 



174 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Matt. 
xviii. ^i 



The other servants, witnessing these acts, 

Were grieved, and went and told their lord the facts ; 

Who said, when he had been before him set, s^ 

" Thou wicked servant ! I forgave thy debt 

At thy desire. Shouldst thou not ruth have known,33 

When so much pity had to thee been shown ? " 

The lord was wroth, and put him to the rack, 34 

And held him bound till he should pay all back. 

If ye forgive. My Father will you too, 3s 

But if ye do not, neither will He you." 



Luke 

X. I 



Luke x. i, 17-20. 

The Lord appointed other Seventy, sent 
Them out by twos — as the Apostles went 
Awhile before — into each town and place, 
Whither the Lord would come — with gifts of grace, 
And signs of power, that all might understand. 
The Reign of the Messiah was at hand. 



" Master!" a certain Scribe said eagerly, 



Luke 
ix. 57 



"Where'er Thou goest I will follow Thee !" 

He said : " To follow Me, art thou aware, ss 

Is loss, contempt, and poverty to bear ? 

Foxes have holes, and birds of heaven their nest, 

But I 've no home, nor where My head to rest." 



RETURN OF THE SEVENTY. 



175 



" Follow thou Me! " He to another said. ,^"^g 

But he replied : " My father is just dead ; 
To go and bury him me first allow." 
*' Do what 's more urgent !" Jesus said. " Go thou ^° 
And preach the Reign of God ! Thy first is t' obey. 
And not to frame excuses for delay. 
Let the dead bury, if need be, the dead — 
To save the living be thy work instead." 

Another prayed : " Let me first bid farewell ^' 

To those at home." He answered : " I thee tell, ^- 
Who, their hands putting to the plough, look back, 
They for God's Kingdom needful fitness lack." 

Those sent, returning, with glad voice exclaim : *• '? 
*' Ev'n demons. Lord, are subject through Thy name." 

" I Satan saw as lightning fall from heaven : 
O'er all the enemy you power is given. "^ 

Yet joy not spirits at your bidding fly, ^° 

But that your names recorded are on high." 



176 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Luke 



XVT. 

JERUSALEM VIA SAMARIA., 

Luke ix. 51-56; xvii. 12-18. 

^jPMiE time for His assumptioir'' nigh fulfilled, ,x. 51 
-1 Henceforth, with steadfast heart and mind, He 

willed 
To go up to Jerusalem once more : 
And so, He messengers sent on before, 5= 

Who, having come, as lying in the way, 
Into a village of Samaria, 

Made ready for Him. When He came to them, 53 
Because His face was towards Jerusalem, 
The men would not receive Him. Filled with ire, 54 
Spake James and John : "Lord ! wilt Thou that we fire 
Call down from heaven, and all these consume, 
As did Elijah, by a righteous doom ?" 
Jesus rebuked them, and mild answer gave : ^? 

" I came not to destroy men's lives but save." 56 

And they went to another village. Then, 
As they were entering it, they met ten men, 

* Otherwise His " taking up " or return to His Father. 



Luke 
xvii. 12 



THE FEAST OF THE TABERNACLES. 177 

That lepers were, who at a distance stood, xvil''-- 

And with shrill voice cried loudly as they could : '3 
" Master, have mercy on us !" He said : " Go, '+ 

And to the priests present )^ourselves, and show 
That ye are clean !" And as they went, each one 
Was cleansed : but of the total number, none 
Returned save only a Samaritan ; '5 

Who, finding he was healed, turned back, and ran 
And fell at Jesus' feet, and kissed the sod, '^ 

Giving Him thanks, and glorifying God. 
He said : " Were not ten cleansed ? Where are the 
nine ? '7 

Could they of gratitude afford no sign — 
Leaving this stranger the exception sole ? '^ 

Arise !" He said, "thy faith has made thee whole." 

John vn. S-52 ; viii. 1-12, 2S, 36, 56-59. 

Jesus delayed His coming to the Feast, l^-]^ 

Feast of the Tabernacles, last not least 
Of the great Festivals — each happy day 
Of all the sacred seven made glad and gay 
With boughs of myrtle, olive, pine, and palm. 
Formed into booths, or waved, with chanted psalm 
And sound of trumpets, timbrels, horns and flutes, 



1^8 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

In celebration of ingathered fruits. ^j^**^ 

On the third day the Jews found Him they sought, '+ 

Now come. He to the Temple went and taught ; 

And all who heard Him wondering comment made '5 

Upon th' amazing wisdom He displayed, 

Not having letters learned. He said : ".Not mine '^ 

My doctrine is, not human but divine. 

I am God's mouth. Whoso God's w^ill shall do, ^^ 

He shall discern between the false and true. 

Th' obedient only has the seeing mind ; 

Who hates the truth is blindest of the blind. 

Who speaks not of himself, he truly speaks. '^ 

He is of God who God's sole glory seeks. 

" I know that murder in )"Our hearts is hid — '9 

And is not murder in your law forbid ? 
Why do ye seek to kill Me ? Can ye tell ? 
Is it because I wrought a miracle ^' 

Of healing ere now on the Sabbath day ? ^^ 

.\nd is jNI}' life the forfeit I must pay ?" 

As many of the people had been won ^i 

To say : " What greater things could Christ have 

done?" — 
The Pharisees conceived the danger prest, 3^ 

And so sent officers to Him arrest. '*° 



MURDEROUS PLOTTINGS. lyg 

But half convinced themselves by what they heard, ,^|f'"^ 
These would have taken Him, but were deterred, +5 
Saying (when asked, Wh}- have 3'e not Him brought?) 
" Sure never man like this man spake or taught !" t*' 
Enraged they said : " Are ye likewise deceived ? ^7 
Who of the rulers have on Him believed ? *^ 

As for the people, who know not the law, *9 

They 're cursed fit ravin for the devil's maw." 
Said Nicodemus (he that came by night so 

Being one of the Council), " Is it right 51 

Under our law to judge a man unheard ?" 
They said : '^ Art thou of Galilee ? The Word 5^ 

Search through and through — look where you will, 

and see 
If anv prophet springs from Galilee ?" 

He to the Mount of Olives went at night, ^'"'- ' 

But to the Temple came at morning light. ^ 

Such was His daily wont. All through the Feast 
His holy toil for others never ceased. 
As there He sat and all the people taught, 
The Scribes and Pharisees a woman brought, 3 

And set her in the midst — her face aflame, 
A piteous spectacle of guilty shame. 



l8o THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

They say to Him : " Teacher ! this woman here ^".-^^"^ 
Was taken in adultery — her guilt is clear. 
Such Moses in the law bids us to stone — 5 

What sayest Thou of her ? " Their malice known, ^ 
Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote 
Upon the ground, not seeming to take note. 
Continuing to ask. He raised His head, ^ 

And with a look that searched their souls, He said : 
" Let him among you all, who 's without sin. 
Cast the first stone at her, and so begin 
( If law and penalty are both so plain ) 
To execute the sentence ye ordain." 

Again He forward leaned and wrote ; and they ^ 
All, one by one, slunk silently away, 9 

Till with the woman He was left alone. 
And lifting up Himself when they had gone, '° 

He said, " Where are they, woman ? Did no one 
Assume to sentence thee ?" She said, "Lord ! none."" 
And Jesus said : " Neither do L Therefore 
Go thou thy way, and henceforth sin no more I " 

Jesus, our Sun, spake, saying: " I the Light '^ 

Am of the world — I give new powers of sight. 
Who follows Me no more shall darkling grope, 



TRUE FREEDOM. 



18I 



But have the Hght of life and jov of hope. vm^ 

When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, =3 

Then shall ve know that I am He, and can 

Do naught alone. The Sender's with the Sent — "") 

I do n(^t singl}" act — two wills are blent, 

Making one will. The Father smiling sees 

I alwavs do those things that will Him please." 

Many, when He pronounced these words, believed. 3° 

" If ye hold fast to that 3'e have received," 3^ 

He said, " My true disciples then are ye — 

Knowing the Truth, the Truth will make you free." 32 

They answered: "We be Abr'am's seed, and Avere 33 

Never in bondage yet, as we aver : 

How sa3^est Thou, 'Ye '11 be made free ?' " He gave 34 

Swift answer : " Whoso sins, he is the slave 

Of sin, not free till he from sin is freed — 35 

He, whom the Son makes free, is free indeed. 36 

Your father Abraham rejoiced M}' day 56 

To see, and seeing it was glad." They say : 57 

" Thou art not fifty yet, and Abraham 

Hast Thou seen?" " Yes, ere Abr'am was I am." 58 

They took up stones intending Him to slay, 59 

But Jesus hid, and passed unseen away. 



l82 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Luke x. 25-42. 

" Master ! " a lawyer said, inviting strife. 



Luke 
X. 25 



" What shall I do to gain eternal life ?" 

He said : " What says the law ? the path's well trod."-^ 

He answered : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God ^^ 

With all thy heart and soul and strength and mind. 

And love thy neighbor as thyself." " I find," -^ 

He said, " thou answerest right. This do and live." 

Willing to justify himself, and give -^ 

Excuse for his short-comings, he began : 

" Who is my neighbor.'^ " Jesus said : " A man 3° 

Went from Jerusalem to Jericho, 

And fell 'mong thieves, who stripped, and gashed him 

so. 
He seemed half dead, then left him where he lay. 
It chanced, a certain priest came down that way, 31 
And, when he saw him, hastened by amazed. 
Likewise a Levite passing, stopped, and gazed 32 

A moment curiously, then did the same. 
But a Samaritan, a stranger, came 33 

There where he was ; and, seeing his sad plight. 
He, filled with pity, hastened to alight, 
And went to him with merciful design, 34 

Bound up his wounds, and poured in oil and wine. 



GOOD SAMARITAN.— MARTHA AND MARY. 183 

Set him on his own beast, and broug'ht with care '-"'^'-' 

Him to an inn, and stayed and nursed him there. 

Next day when leaving, giving to the host 35 

Two pence,* he said: ' Take care of him, the cost 

I will repay thee when T come again.' 

Which of these three, I ask thee to explain, 36 

Was neighbor to the man, himself a Jew ?" 

" He who showed mercy." "Go thou and thus do !"37 

He came to Bethany, a village near 38 

Jerusalem, place memorable and dear, 
As the abode of those whom Jesus loved, 
And whose affection He had often proved. 
() glad was Martha, Mary, Lazarus, 39 

To have their roof once more distinguished thus I 
How shall their love and worship be exprest 
Tow'rd their great Friend, who deigns to be their 

Guest } 
What will best please Him ? Is it for a meal 
(It is to Martha that we make appeal) 
He condescends to enter your low door ? 
Plain wholesome food He asks and nothing more. 
The Lord of Life, in whom all creatures live, 

* Dr. S. Davidson, quoted by Geikie, estimates the purchasing value of two denarii 
(pence) to have been equal to from six to seven shillings sterling. 



l84 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

From thee wants little, and has much to give.- ^"^^ 
He in His hands the bread of life doth bear — 
What for thy many dishes does He care ? 
Little avails thy running to and fro ; 
There is a better way thy love to show. 
If thou wouldst please Him, lend thy heart and ear. 
He'll spare one dish to give thee chance to hear. 
Rest from thy worr}- : one brief moment stay, 
Nor deem the time thus spent is thrown away. 

But Martha — flurried, hot with haste and heat — *° 
Beholding Mary at the Saviour's feet. 
Hearing His words of wisdom, love and grace, 
A mighty pleasure beaming from her face. 
Fearing to lose a word He had to say. 
The more because He had not long to stay — 
Words of complaint and blame 'gainst her advanced, 
Distracted speech, that at the Master glanced. 
Her whirling thoughts unable Him to spare. 
Saying thus wildly : " Lord ! dost Thou not care 
My sister has me left to serve alone ? 
Bid her to share the burden on me thrown !" 
And Jesus answered : " Martha, Martha, thou, -f' 

Witness thy fretful speech and clouded brow, 
Careful and troubled art, full of unrest, 



THE MAN BORN BLIND. 185 

Concerning many things to please th}' Guest : ^^"^ 

But one is needful — Mary's chosen part, ^2 

To sit and give her hospitable heart, 

And learn of Me. Let her therefore remain ! 

Her place beside Me she shall still retain." 

John IX. 1-4T ; X. 1-42. 

As Jesus passed along the public \va)% J;"^" 

He saw a man whose eves ne'er knew the day. 
Quite blind from birth, reduced to beg his bread. 
And the disciples to their Master said : - 

" Whence comes this heavy judgment ? for whose sin. 
His or his parents' ?" Jesus said : ''Therein 3 

Lies not the cause ; on them no blame doth rest; 
But that God's work should be made manifest. 
Judge naught before the time, but humbl}- wait : 
God in the end His ways will vindicate : 
As in this case, whereby th' occasion 's given. 
To show the pitv and the grace of Heaven. 
I must, while it is day, the hours are few, 4 

Finish the work here given Me to do. 
And on the earth My Father glorify : 
The day is passing, and the night is nigh. 
While I am in the world, lo, I the Light s 

Am of the world, and to the blind am sight." 



1 86 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Having said this, He spittle mixed with earth, -J!;;''" 
And smeared his eyes who had been blind from birth, 
And told him : " Go, wash in Siloam's spring I" i 

He went, and came back seeing. Wondering 
Neighbors, who him had seen when blind, began ^ 
To ask each other, " Is not this the man 
Who sat and begged?" Made certain it was he, y 
They questioned him : " How is it thou dost see ?" "^ 
" A man called Jesus smeared my eyes with clav, " 
And said, ' Wash in Siloam's Pool ! ' Straightway 
I saw." They to the Pharisees him brought '3 

('T was on the Sabbath day the cure was wrought), '+ 
Who asked him how it was ? He answered : '' He 's 
Put clay upon my eyes; I washed and see." 
Some of their number said : " This man is not '^ 

From God, for He the Sabbath day would blot." 
While others said : " How can a sinner do 
Such miracles ?" And thence a schism grew. 
They asked the man who had been blind again : '7 
" What dost thou say He is ?" He said : " 'T is plain 
He is a prophet." But the Jews denied '^ 

He had been blind, till they had called, and plied 
With questions both his parents : " Do ye say '9 

This is your son, born blind?" They answered: 
" Yea ! 20 



THE MAN BORN BLIND. 



187 



That he 's our son, and was born blind is so : j'^^^ 

But how it is he sees we do not know. ^^ 

He is of age, ask him !" — observing heed " 

Not to offend the Jews, who had agreed, 

Who owned Him Christ, should be (so great their i-agc) 

Cast out — so said, ' Ask him, he is of age.' -^ 

A second time they called the man born blind. "+ 

And said to him : " Give God the praise ! We find 

This Man 's a sinner." " Whether He be so -5 

Or not," he answered, " this one thing I know, 

That whereas I was blind I now do see." 

They said again : " What did He do to thee ?" -^ 

" I 've told already, and ye did not hear — "7 

Will ye be His disciples ?" Void of fear, 

No more he minced his words, but spake out bold, 

From their nude malice stripping every fold. 

They then reviled him, saying scornfully : ''^ 

" So thou art His disciple. Not so we : 

Moses' disciples we are. God, we know, ^9 

Did speak to Moses a long time ago— 

As for this Man we know not whence He is." 

" How strange ! since power to gi\'e me sight is His, ^'' 

Ye know not whence He is ! God does not hear 31 

Sinners, but those who worship Him and fear. 



34 



1 38 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Not since the world began can ye once find, {^^^ 

That an)" man gave sight to one born blind. 

Were not this man from God He could do naught — 33 

I dare to tell 3"Ou plainly my own thought." 

" Dost thou presume, born child of sin and hell, 

Us to instruct?" they said. They him expel. 

Jesus had heard that they had cast him out, 
And having met him, going on His route, 
He said to him, as by His side he trod, 
" Dost thou believe upon the Son of God ?" 
" Who is He, Lord, that so I may believe ? 
My heart thou hast made ready to receive." 
*' Not only hast thou seen Him, but 't is He 
Who at this present moment talks with thee." 
*' Lord ! I believe " — and fell down at His feet. 

And Jesus said: " Lo ! I, for judgment meet, 
Am come into the world of lost mankind ; 
That who see not, may see, who see be blind." 
Some Pharisees, applying this remark, 
Said : " Are we blind, and dwell we in the dark ?" 
" Were ye without the means or power to see. 
Blind in this sense, ye then from sin were free. 
But since ye boast the keenness of your sight, 



John 
ix. — 



THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 189 

And close your eyes because ye hate the Kght, 
Your sin remains. To test 3^our love or hate 
I come, the touchstone of your moral state. 
What help is there, if wilful and perverse, 
Ye shall the blessing turn into a curse ? 

" Mark the similitude I now begin : 
Whoso into the sheepfold enters in, 
Not by the door of fitness and of right, 
But climbs the wall by stealth and in the night, 
He is a thief and robber. Evermore 
The shepherd enters only by the door. 
To him the porter opes without delay. 
And all the sheep his well known voice obe}^ : 
He calls his sheep by name and leads them out — 
Walking before, they follow him about ; 
But while they '11 follow him from love and choice. 
They '11 flee a stranger, knowing not his voice." 

When they had heard, and did not comprehend, 
Jesus spake further then to the same end : 
" I am the Door, the true Door of the sheep : 
All rival claimants are impostors deep — 
I am the Door and Keeper of the door ; 
Who by Me pass shall safe be evermore ; 



190 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



They shall go in and out and pasture find, {"^^ 

Secure from wolves and thieves of bloody mind. 

I am the Food and Feeder of the flock : '° 

I all My fulness will to them unlock ; 

I come to give them life, life more and more, 

Life higher, better, and in ampler store. 

I the Good Shepherd am. M}- love so deep, " 

I give Mv life to save th' imperiled sheep. 

Not so the hireling. When the wolf draws nigh, '- 

He of his safety thinks and hastes to fly — '3 

Because a hireling, little does he care. 

So leaves the wolf to scatter and to tear. 

I the Good Shepherd am : B}^ many a sign '■♦ 

I know My sheep, and I am known of mine ; 

Ev'n as the Father knoweth Me, and I ^5 

The Father know ,'^' and for My sheep I die. 

And other sheep I have not of this fold ; '^ 

These I must bring and to My likeness mould, 

That one flock and one Shepherd there may be. 

Therefore it is My Father loveth Me, '7 

Because of My free will My life I give, 

To be i"esumed, that they with Me may live. 

♦Although the old reading is retained in the Revised Version, there is no doubt but 
this is the true rendering, as it makes the sense clear and preserves the parallel, which 
the other obscures or destroys. 




PAINTED BY D08S0N. 



ITOTYPE BY 8IERSTA0T 



I AND MV FATHKR ARE ONE. 



191 



The power to take on My permission stands ; {^"^ 

My life's not Ayrenched from weak unwilling hands :'^ 
I have the power — men's malice all in yain — 
To lay it down and take it up again. 

During the Feast of Dedication," held ^^ 

In winter at Jerusalem, compelled, 
By stress of wet or cold, somewhere to go 
For shelter, Jesus sought the Portico "^ 

Of Solomon. As He was walking there, "* 

The Jews, His footsteps watching ever)^where, 
Surroimded Him and said : " How long dost Thou 
Intend to make us doubt ? Say plainly now. 
If Thou be the Messiah ? " He said : " Why -5 

Repeat yain words ? My works they testify 
Of Me wrought in M}" Father's name. But ye ^^ 

Cling to your stubborn incredulity, 
Because ye are not of My sheep ; for they, '7 

Hearing My yoice, Me follow and obey. 
I giye them life eternal. Firm they stand: ^^ 

Xo man shall hurt or pluck them from My hand. 

* This festival was instituted to commemorate the purging of the Temp\e, and the 
rebuilding of the altar, after Judas Maccabeus had driven out the Syrians, B. C. 164. It 
lasted eight days. To observe it, it was not obligatory to go up to Jerusalem. It 
occurred near the end of December, some weeks after the autumnal Feast of Tab- 
ernacles. It is not probable that Christ had returned to Galilee during the interval. 



192 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



My Father, who them gave Me, greater is J°^" 

Than all, and none can pluck them out ol His 
Sure hand, which is the hand too of the Son — 
I and My Father are in all things one." 3° 

The Jews again took stones up Him to stone. '' 

Jesus said, " Many good works have I shown s^ 
You from My Father. Now for which of those 
Works do )^e stone Me?" They reply oppose : 33 
" 'T is not for a good work, but blasphemy — 
That man, Thou makest Thyself God." Said He : 34 
" Is it not written in your law of some 
To whom the word of God of old had come, 
' I said ye 're gods ? ' If then the law thus spake, 33 
Styling them gods, and naught can blot or shake 
The pure authority of scripture speech. 
Wherefore charge ye with blasphemy, and breach 36 
Of law, Him whom the Father sanctified, 
And sent into the world awhile to bide. 
For calling Him His Son ? If I, indeed, 37 

Do not My Father's works then are ye freed — 
Believe Me not. But if I do, believe, 38 

If not My words, My works which can't deceive ; 
That ye may know the Father is in Me 
And I in Him in glorious unity." 



WITHDRAWAL BEYOND THE JORDAN. 193 



Him therefore to arrest they tried anew ; 
But He escaped them ; and again withdrew 
Beyond the Jordan where John first baptized. 
Many resorted to Him : They (advised 
That all things John, who wrought no miracle, 
Had said of Him as greater, were said well) 
Spectators of the works that He achieved — 
Hearing the words He spake — on Him believed. 



"The Truth shall make yoit free." 

Awake, my soul, from guilty slumber ! 

Arise, thy warfare now begin ! 
Shake off whatever doth encumber, 

And break the fetters of thy sin ! 

And break the fetters of thy sin ! 

Sweet Liberty ! divine in beauty, 
Dear radiant Daughter of the Skies ! 

Whose other names are Love and Duty, 
Restore Earth's long lost Paradise ! 
Restore Earth's long lost Paradise ! 
13 



John 
X- 39 



194 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



XVII. 

I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. 

John xi. 1-46. 

WHEN Lazarus of Bethany was not well, ^^1^^ 

His anxious sisters sent, the Lord to tell 3 

How that His friend was sick. And, when He heard, ■♦ 
He spake a comforting and hopeful word : 
" The issue of this sickness is not death — 
Departure of th' unreturning breath — 
But for God's glory meant, that so thereby 
God may His Son declare and glorify." 
' T was not because He did not love them well, s 

That He continued in that place to dwell ^ 

Yet two days longer, but for reasons wise — 
Then said to His disciples : " Let us rise, 7 

And go again into Judea." Filled s 

With deep concern, that so their Lord had willed. 
They said : " Master ! the Jews but very late 
Would Thee have stoned, and still they lie in wait, 
And go'st thou thither that they Thee may slay ? " 



THE DEATH OF LAZARUS. 195 

He said : " Are there not twelve hours in the day ? 
Who in the light of day and duty walks, ]^^*"^ 

Walks sure : because he sees the sun, he balks 
The murderous malice that in darkness hides — 
Men stumble when no light within them guides." ^^ 
Then added : " Our friend Lazarus doth sleep ; " 

I go to wake him from his slumber deep." 
" Lord ! if he sleep he will recover." Said " 

The Lord then plainly : " Lazarus is dead. '♦ 

On your account I'm glad I was not there. 
That so ye may believe : we '11 thence repair." 
Said Thomas to the rest with a deep sigh : '^ 

" Let us all go that with Him we may die." 

When Jesus now to Bethany had come, ^^ 

Four days had Lazarus been in the tomb. *? 

Jews from Jerusalem, two miles away. 
Visits of sympathy had come to pay, 
With others, gathered in large numbers there. 
In funeral rites their mournful part to bear. 

One having run the joyful news to broach 
To mourning Martha of the Lord's approach. 
She flew to meet Him. Mary sat at home, 
Unconscious of the fact that He had come. 



18 



iq6 the light of the world. 

Martha exclaimed, as she to Him drew near . l'?^Jl 
" My brother had not died hadst Thou been here. 
And even now, I know, whate'er it be, " 

That Thou shall ask of God, He '11 give it Thee." 
" Thy brother, be thou sure, shall rise again." =3 

" Yea," Martha said, " I know, as we maintain, ^^ 

That he will in the resurrection rise 
At the Last Day ; but far that comfort lies ; 
While near and now 's the anguish of the knife." 

" I am the Resurrection and the Life, ^5 

The present Conqueror of hell and death — 

I bring back life and the surrendered breath. 

He that believes on Me I hold him fast, ^^ 

And though he die, his life shall death outlast. 

Of all that live, whoso believes on Me 

Shall never die, but live eternally. 

Believest thou all this?" She said : " Yea, Lord ! ^^^ 

I do believe and have believed Thy word, 

And that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God." 

Having said this, she hurriedly retrod =^ 

The way back to the house, in Mary's ear 
To whisper secretly : " The Master 's here. 
And calls for thee." She instantly withdrew, ^9 



I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. igy 

And went to Him outside the villag-e, threw J?''" 

O ' XI. 30 

Herself down at His feet, and weeping cried : 32 

" Hadst thou been here my brother had not died." 

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews 33 

Weeping (who followed her, when at the news 
She stole away in silence, fearing they, 
Unfriendly to her Lord, might Him betray) 
He groaned in spirit, and asked shudderingly, 
" Where have 3'e laid him ?" They said : "■ Come and 
see !" 34 

And Jesus Avept. As silent tear-drops rolled 33 

Down His wan cheeks, the Jews remarked, " Behold ! 3^ 
How much He loved him." But some reasoned, " Why 
Did He, who gave blind sight, let this man die ?" 37 
Groaning again came Jesus to the grave, 38 

Which hollowed out the hill-side formed a cave 
Closed with a stone. " Remove the stone !" He said. 39 
But Martha interposed : " Lord ! four days dead 
He by this time must smell." " Did I not say, 40 

Believing, thou shouldst witness a display 
Of the great power of God ?" They it remove. ** 
Jesus said, lifting up His eyes above, 
^* Father, I thank Thee that Thou heardest Me ! 



1^8 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Always My filial prayers ascend to Thee 1°^^^ 

I never ask but I at once receive ; 
I said it only that men might believe." 
After these words with a loud voice He said : ^3 

Lazarus, come forth !" At once, he who was dead 44 
Came forth, his hands and feet with fillets bound, 
And all about his face a napkin wound. 
Then Jesus said : " Unbind and let him go !" 

Many believed. Some let the elders know. ^6 



Note.— Some explanation of the terms used in the following Verses seems proper. 
Psyche (Greek) occurs over a hundred times in the New Testament. In about half 
the cases it is rendered life, and in the other half soul : while the adjective formed 
from \\.,psychikos, occurs six times, in four of which it is rendered nniural. Fueuina, 
with its derivatives, occurs more than four hundred times, and is rendered uniformly 
spirit, except in those cases where Holy Ghost is used instead of Holy Spirit. Tricho- 
tomists are those who hold to a threefold division of the nature of man, in accordance 
with I Th. V. 23, which speaks of spirit (pneuma), soul (psyche) and body (soma) as 
constituting the whole person to be preserved blameless. The dichotomous view 
(which by the way is the current one and gives a distinct coloring to all the creeds) 
makes man to consist of two parts, viz. : body and soul. The pneuma or spirit, when 
it is distinguished from the soul, is regarded as the highest principle in man's nature, 
being that which distinguishes him from the brute creation, allies him to God, and 
forms the true ground of his immortality. Strictly speaking it was the pneuma or the 
spiritual part of man, rather than the intellectual, that fell— that is, suffered degrada- 
tion and dethronement, with spiritual darkness and death as the result. Regenera- 
tion is, therefore, the requickening of the dead or dormant, fallen pneuma; and its 
reinstatement as the supreme regulative faculty in man, dominating all below. Stand- 
ing for the godlike, it is rich in all divine cap.abilities, and so it would be strange, if it 
were destitute of the power to clothe itself, that being one of the most necessary of 
all powers. Being in its own nature immortal, it needs an immortal body, and will 
have it, because it needs it, and when it needs it. Potentially present in the germ al- 



O GRAVE, WHERE IS THV VICTORY? 



199 



John 
xi. 20 



O GRAVE, WHERE IS THY VICTORY? 

Four days had Lazarus been dead : 

When Martha heard the Lord was near, 
She flew to meet Him : " Oh," she said, 

" He had not died hadst Thou been here." 
Her eyes in tears, fast flowing, swam ; 

Her restless heart was full of strife ; 
She heard him say, unsoothed, " I AM 

The Resurrection and the Life." 

Though speaking in the present tense, 

The comfort of His words was hid : 
In some far-off and frigid sense. 

In the same way her fathers did, 
She held the dead would rise again 

At the Last Day ; but must she wait 
Ten thousand years, and not complain, 

In hope of meeting at that date ? 

ready, it is the pushing and growing force of the indwelling pneuma that shapes the 
pneumatical body, and makes it its own. Entombed for the moment in mortal flesh, 
its resurrection is imminent. Like the butterfly from its rent cocoon, the embodied 
psyche-pneuma will spring forth, winged and wonderful, and ascend to the highest 
heavens. Identity always lies in the personal consciousness of the Ego. It is simply 
Myself, and not an affair of atoms at all. 



John 
.\i.24 



200 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

He said, ' I am; not I shall be.* J^*^^^ 

The doctrine was divinely new — 
A most consoling certainty, 

Not apprehended by the Jew : 
The resurrection of the dead, 

He taught was not a dim event, 
Re-knitting of a broken thread, 

Bvit near and now and imminent. 



* It often, happens, that what the Scriptures leave obscure or undefined, men in their 
attempts to explain darken the more. As nobody was found equal to the task of piec- 
ing out the uncompleted lines of Virgil's Sic vos non vobis, we distrust the competency 
of human wisdom to supply the deficiencies of divine authorship. This is applicable 
to creeds, for there is in the best and most venerated of them a human element which 
reflects simply the knowledge of the time. Advancing science, while it antiquates so 
much of these as is human, leaves the divine untouched in all its primitive freshness. 
The real conflict is not between the inspired te.xt but its interpretation. Creeds have 
their uses, but Christ says, " Come to Me !" In that case, we have truth at first hand. 
We drink at the uncorrupted soujrce. We are put into original relation with the Great 
Teacher Himself. Surely we can know far better by direct tasting that sugar is sweet 
than by report ; but it is a common fault of the learned and the unlearned alike, that 
they rely on the say-so of men who had no better means of knowing than themselves, 
if as good. 

Much of our ignorance is of ourselves. Our eyes are full of dust. Prejudice blinds 
us. It was so, we know, with the apostles. We are amazed at their stupidity. 
Where, we are tempted to ask, were their ears? Their Master spoke plainly enough, 
but they did not listen. He said to Martha, "I am the Resurrection and the Life. 
Whoever believeth on Me shall never die. Believest thou this?" She did not pene- 
trate His meaning, nor try to. She had glibly expressed her belief in the resurrection 
as she understood it ; but whether the saying of the Master was in accordance with 
that old belief she did not stop to inquire. It is wonderful how contented we are in 
our ignorance. Our Lord's question is addressed, no doubt, to us as much as to 
Martha ; and we, like her, not seeing perhaps how a present resurrection, which 
j^^w.f to be asserted, harmonizes with a resurrection which we have been taught to 
believe lies in the far future, wc pass by the remarkable declaration as something 
enigmatical or too profound for us. 
Believers in the Resurrection may be conveniently divided into three classes. First. 



O GRAVE, WHERE IS THY VICTORY? 20I 

Because Immortal L()V(; reigns here, Jv'^.'l^ 

Present and powerful to save, 
It were unreasonable to fear j^i^'j 

An interregnum in the grave : 
Th' imperishable forms of those, 

With tears committed to the ground. 
Evoked at death, triumphant rose, 

And now the throne of God surround. 



Rev. 
vii. IS 



Those who hold that the self-same body will be raised up at the Last Day, meaning 
thereby all the material particles which happen to compose it at the moment of death. 
According to the poet Young, however, as set forth in his poem on " The Last Day," 
members previousl3' lost will be supplied : 

" Now monuments prove faithful to their trust. 
And render back their long committed dust. 
Now charnels rattle ; scattered limbs and all 
The various bones, obsequious to the call, 
Self-moved advance ; the neck perhaps to meet 
The distant head, the distant legs the feet : 
Dreadful to view, see through the dusky sky 
Fragments of bodies in confusion fly. 
To distant regions journeying, there to claim 
Deserted members and complete the frame." 

Secoi:ti. Those who entertain the view thus expressed in the Epitaph ascribed to 
Milton : 

" These Ashes, which do here remain, 
A vital tincture still retain ; 
A seminal form within the deeps 
Of this little chaos sleeps ; * * * 
This plant thus calcined into dust 
In its Ashes rest it must, 
Until sweet Psyche shall inspire 
A softening and prolific fire. 
And in her fostering arms enfold 
This heavy and this earthly mould." 



202 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

For form is different from dust, 

And 't is for form alone we care ; 
Our earthly bodies perish must, 

The soul of form no longer there. 
The old, that was in weakness sown, 1^°'- 

Is made the pattern of the new, ^^ 

But, fashioned like the Saviour's own, j?|"J; 

Stands forth idealized to view. 

Third. Those who hold, that while we are justified in assuming that " a seminal 
form " exists, it is to be looked for not in the ashes of the urn nor the dust of the 
grave, but in the depths of the immortal spirit itself, forming- an essential part of it, 
being, in fact, the life within the life, possessing genetic aptitudes, whereby, under a 
divine quickening, a spiritual or pneumatical body emerges. This — constituting what 
is called the resurrection from the dead — differs from Christ's resurrection chiefly in 
this particular, that in His case, there w^as first a revivification of the natural body of 
flesh and blood, without its seeing corruption ; and a spiritualizing or glorification 
of it afterwards, before His ascension. The advocates of this view conceive 
that it alone suits the analogy pointed at by Paul in regard to the buried 
seed — the likeness being properly between 'the living seed and the living man, 
not the dead body. " Dead things," as Locke observes, "are not sown; seeds are 
sown being alive." It is the living acorn that contains the oak ; the dead acorn, like 
the dead body, is empty and contains nothing. It is the psyche, the tree's life, resi- 
dent in the acorn, to which it owes all its glorious possibilities. It is this, which mak- 
ing use of its environments, builds up this lordliest of vegetable forms. Strictly 
speaking, life springs only from life, never from death. The seed seems to die, but 
does not. It descends to ascend. It clothes itself ; it puts on beauty and glory ; 
multiplies itself an hundred fold, and is thus made fit to minister to the necessities of 
man ; to nourish and build up the brain — and so become ancillary to thought and 
love and worship. 

Compared with the magnificent potentialities of the human germ those of the seed 
and acorn are poor and weak. Here too, it is the indwelling psyche, infinitely enriched 
however by special endowments, which in its marvelous workings under God, crowds 
into the period of a few brief months the accomplishments of mighty milleniums ; re- 
peating, so to speak, the miracles of creation from the beginning ; passing up step by 
step from the lowest to the highest ; through numerous imitative metamorphoses, cul- 
minating in the perfected form of the child born into the world. From earliest times 



O GRAVE, WHERE IS THY VICTORY? 



303 



That which is natural is first : xv'.'li 

The body-builder, Psyche, moulds, 
Till on the raptured sight there burst 

The hidden forms the germ enfolds. 
It makes each organ play a part, 

Giving what suits the body here — 
Were there no blood there were no heart — 

It fits the earthly to its sphere. 

until ni)w, much use has been made, in the way of illustration, of the conversion of 
the caterpillar into the butterfly, but the mighty transformations which have already- 
taken place at the time of birth, leaves this poor example a thousand leagues behind. 
But change and ascent do not stop at birth. The infant ripens into a Newton. When 
man is at his best and highest, death comes. Believers of this third class regard it as. 
incredible, that at this supreme point there should be any pause or backward step in. 
the march of development. They hold that death rightly viewed, so far from being- 
catastrophic and final, is grandly climacteric ; is not a plunge downwards but a step 
upwards ; a mystic transition and birth into a higher life ; that it is not more in ac- 
cordance with Christian hope, than it is with reason, that new forces should now 
come into play and a new body be formed to take the place of the old one ; that at 
once, without any yawning interval, under a divine and gracious quickening, this 
corruptible should put on incorruption, and this mortal should put on immortality, and 
that death should be swallowed up of life. 

All this is e.xactly in accordance with the assurance of Paul, who said he knew that 
when the earthly house of this tabernacle was dissolved he had a building of God, a 
house not made with hands eternal in the heavens ; justifying his exultant expectation 
that, admitted to the vision of Jesus in His glorified body and seeing Him as He is, he 
should be like Him ; that, having borne the image of the earthy, he should bear 
henceforth the image of the heavenly ; and be prepared to praise Him, from the firstj 
for a finished and complete redemption, including that of his body — having attained 
to the resurrection from the dead which had been the object of so much struggle and 
endeavor during his natural life upon the earth. As the apostle points out, that is not 
first which is spiritual (pneumatical) but that which is natural (pyschical) ; afterwards, 
that which is spiritual (pneumatical). As the psyche begets and raises up the pysch- 
ical or natural body, by a like formative energy, it is thought, the pneuma begets, 
and raises up the pneumatical or spiritual body, resemblant but different. 

In further confirmation of this view, they cite the above declaration of our Lord to- 



204 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Spirits, when severed from deca)', 1^°^^ 

Need other organs. How shall then 
They be re-wedded to their clay, 

Without becoming mortal men ? 
Can Psyche build and Pneuma not? 

Pneuma, the nobler of the two, 
A glorious body, without blot, 

Christ-like, angelical, and new, 

Martha: " I am the Resurrection and the Life", made purposely, it would seem, to 
■correct an erroneous impression which Martha entertained, in accordance with the 
prevalent Jewish belief, that the resurrection was a remote event, too remote to be 
available for present comfort under bereavement. Prior to Christ's coming, the few 
brief hints of the Inspired Scriptures on the subject of the Resurrection, had been 
formulated by the Rabbins into a creed. As Christ came to bring life and immortality 
to life, it would be a disparagement of His mission to suppose that all His teachings, 
in regard to the what and the how and the when of the Resurrection, had been antici- 
pated by these men, leaving Him nothing to reveal ; and so, if in His utterance on this 
•occasion there should be found something new and different from the accepted Phari- 
saic doctrine, it would be no more than what might be expected. Christ's teachings 
and the Pharisees' run, we know, counter to each other. They materialized ; He 
spiritualized. They externalized the Kingdom of God and were looking forward to 
it. He spoke of it, as both coming and having come. " It cometh not," He said, 
"with observation, but is within you." He emphasizes the now. All is now. I am 
the Resurrection and the Life )io7(r -, the Judgment is now. The hour cometh, and now 
is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. 
He that bclieveth on the Son is not judged. He that believeth not is judged already. 
Every day, so to speak, is therefore Doomsday ; but the day of death is, in a special 
sense, to every individual, the Last Day, and the Coming of the Lord in the clouds of 
heaVen, and the Day of Judgment. One hundred thousand souls are ushered into the 
presence of the Supreme Judge every twenty-four hours ; four thousand every hour, 
night and day, sufficient, one might think, to warrant a continued session. Thus one 
day is hardly more solemn than another. All days are solemn. ''Every meanest 
moment rests on eternity." 

It is admitted, that the language employed in describing the Last Judgment and 
the End of the Word is bold and full of material imagery ; but hardly more so than 
that applied to the destruction of Jerusalem. All Christ's teachings are full of simili- 



I Cor. 
XV. 36- 



O GRAVE, WHERE IS THY VICTORY? 205 

Shall rear — a house not made with hands, ^^^f- 

A God-devised and mystic dome, 
Eternal in the heavenly lands, 

To be the spirit's final home. 
The seed is quickened when it dies, 

Puts on the new, sloughs off the old : 37 

The slumbering Pneuma wakes, likewise, ^+ 

Its mighty marvels to unfold. 

tudes. He taught in parables and prophesied in symbols. The apocalypse of the 
future is given in inspired tableaux — scenic representations, types and adumbrations 
of a'A-ful realities, true in substance if not in form. 

It is unfortunate that this view — not this view either but something like it — is made 
repugnant to many minds by its accidental association with Gnostic and other heresies. 
It is certainly free from some of the difficulties which attach to both the other two, 
and has many things to recommend it. In regard to the first, although apparently 
favored by the Creeds, it is safe to say that it is based on false notions of identity, and 
is sanctioned by neither reason nor Scripture. Dust is not identity. Had Augustine — 
who held that all the matter which ever entered into the organism however dispersed 
here, would be made complete in quantity and quality in the resurrection, even to the 
hairs cut oflE and the paring of the nails — known as much of Physiology as every 
tyro now knows, he must have seen how untenable was such a view. For what are 
the facts of the case ? It is certain that our bodies are never two hours together wholly 
the same. The body of to-day is not the body of yesterday. "We die daily." Let 
Augustine's conjecture be judged of by the light of the following extract, taken from 
Dalton's work on Human Physiology : " It has been ascertained by careful weighing 
that rather more than seven J>oiinds are absorbed and discharged daily by the healthy 
human subject ; and for a man having the average weight of 140 pounds, a quantity of 
material equal to the weight of the whole body is thus passed through the system in 
twenty days " — tantamount to more than a ton in a year. Augustine died at 75. 
Accepting his view as correct, the size and weight of his own resurrection body would 
need to be enormous. Thomas Aquinas held the more moderate view, that only the 
particles which entered into the composition of the body at death would be raised ; 
but we know, that a sharp sickness — aided perhaps by medicine and a copious blood- 
letting just before death — can reduce the weight of the body several pounds ; and it 
would devolve on the Angelical Doctor to give some good reason why the particles, 
that remain should be more sacred and worthy of being raised than those taken away. 
Teriulian absurdly enough supposed, that the teeth were purposely made indestructi- 



2o6 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

To be reborn, the Pneuma must Hi**" 

Be quickened by the Spirit's breath ; ^ 

And 't is the Christian's settled trust, 

The Lord of Hfe is Lord of death : j^^^g 

That when he dies, the holy force 

Works normally to beauteous ends, 
In orderly and healthy course. 

And always to perfection tends. 

ble, that they might ser\'e as the nucleus of the new body at the resurrection. A 
Jewish tradition, on the other hand, assigned this honor to a part of the os coccygis. 

It is presumed that the insuperable difficulties attendant upon this doctrine of literal 
identity, led to the adoption of the second view, advocated by Drew in his able 
treatise, viz., that there is an indestructible germ somewhere in our present body, 
which is to be developed in the future. This— which is, if we mistake not, the belief 
now most common— agrees, as we have seen, with the third view in assuming the ex- 
istence of a resident germinal principle by means of which the new spiritual body or 
organism is to be evolved, but differs in supposing that this descends with the dead 
body, and lies perdue in the grave until the end of the world, when it is first quick- 
ened. If the natural body is to be succeeded by a spiritual body, it would be in ac- 
cordance with all analogy that provision should have been made in the original 
constitution of our nature for the metamorphosis, and so it can hardly be doubted 
that the genetic or active cause of such transformation has a lodgment somewhere in 
the human economy ; and the question arises in that case, which is most likely to be 
its seat, the dead body or the living spirit. Could we find good scriptural grounds for 
believing that it goes with the spirit, then we should have no difficulty in understand- 
ing how the embodiment which takes place should be immediate, and how "the 
just" would have no need to wait to be "made perfect." 

The difficulty of harmonizing this view with various te.xts of Scripture may not, 
perhaps, be so great as it seems. We do not think it the least of its recommendations, 
that it does away with the inferential necessity of an intermediate state, with its in- 
explicable anomalies, contradictions, and twilight underground associations— its Par- 
adise being, as many conceive it, little better than a weird betweenity, a kind of half 
prison, a place of exile and long waiting. What the state of the soul is without the 
body, Isaac Taylor, in his Physical Theory of Another Life, tries to imagine and tell 
us ; and we confess, the conclusions which he reaches are by no means exhilarating. 
He argues, that as mind is dependent upon corporiety, its powers for the time are in a 
state of suspension. The intermediate period, being the chrysalis period of the soul, is. 



O GRAVE, WHERE IS THY VICTORY? 207 

To raise me up at my last day, {"^^^ 

Were more than to resuscitate ^° 

This mortal tenement of clay, 

Making me live to die more late : 
Give me, O Christ ! a nature new ; 

Mix Thy sweet life with mine, True Bread ! ^- 
That so I may attain unto ^ii.'\'o' 

The resurrection from the dead. " 

he infers, marked by the destitution of all the instruments of active life, corporeal and 
mental. This state of inaction is probably, he thinks, also a state of subterranean se- 
clusion, involving perhaps an unconsciousness of the passage of time. 

This picture, it must be conceded, is a far less cheering one than that given in the 
Westminster Confession, which distinctly affirms, that " the souls of the righteous, 
immediately after death, being made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest 
heaven," etc. Now, as nothing can be higher than the " highest," there is clearly no 
room left for anything "intermediate;" but not content w^ith this implied denial of 
an intermediate state, the Confession goes on to say expressly, " Besides these two 
places [/. <■., heaven and hell] the Scripture acknowledgeth none." It is silent as to 
the disembodied soul's mode of existence, but seems to take it for granted, that it has 
organs perfectly adapted to its exalted condition. Paul speaks of being absent from 
the body, but present with the Lord ; which might be thought to imply, that he be- 
lieved in the possibility of the existence of the soul apart from the body ; but, on the 
other hand, one would be led to think, from the importance which he attached every- 
where to the resurrection, that he regarded corporiety — spiritual corporicry — in a 
sense necessary. 

Profoundly impressed with the greatness of the mystery which shrouds the subject, 
the writer feels that no attitude towards it becomes him but one of reverent inquiry : 
therefore he desires it to be understood, that the view, set forth in the accompanying 
Verses, is propounded rather than asserted. He thinks it echoes the hope if not the 
belief of multitudes. If true and justified by Scripture, it cannot be deemed other- 
wise than desirable that it should be divorced from the error or the folly with which 
it may happen to be associated. For who would not like to be scripturally certified, 
that death was no more than the putting off of one garment and the putting on of an- 
other? That as soon as the soul is unclothed, it is clothed upon with the vestments of 
eternity? It is easy to start objections, and raise difficulties against any view. On a 
subject involved in so much uncertainty, the writer considers it is lawful to differ. 



Rom. 
viii. 23. 



208 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

In a swift moment Thou didst turn 

The water into living wine— ^-^^^ 

The twinkling of an eye, I learn, ^^°''^ 

Suffices for the Power Divine : 
Rather than souls leave naked, Thou %F°^ 

Wouldst clothe them by immediate act ; 
But there's no need, if law doth now 

Potentiality make fact. 

In captive thrall should death retain 

Part of ourselves, the spirit's mate, 
We should in heaven with yearning pain 

Redemption of our body wait ; 
And ask. What means this long divorce 

Our exiled half still 'neath the sod ? 
And spur the ages in their course, 

To consummate us sons of God. 

Dear risen Lord ! does Paul still groan. 

Not clothed upon as he had hoped ? 
To all but to Thyself alone 

Are the grave's prison-doors unoped ? 
Dost Thou in heaven a body wear ? 

And dost Thou make Thy saints to wait, 
Leaving their souls unclothed and bare, 

In nameless embryonic state? 



O GRAVE, WHERE IS THY VICTORY? 20Q 

What are those many mansions,* Thou {'^"^ 

Didst say Thou wentest to prepare ? 
Dwell not they all within them now, 

Each housed in his owm palace fair ? 
It cannot be they suffer lack — 

When Love to them all thingfs has ariven — ^^■■"'- 
And are now sighing to come back 

To supplement defect in heaven. 

* The writer is aware, that such an interpretation, of what Stier calls, " this super- 
abundant mysterious declaration " — /. <•., " In my Father's house are many mansions," 
etc.— would be novel ; but, he is not sure, but that it is as defensible as any that has 
been hitherto suggested. The objection, that the " many mansions " are spoken of as 
already existing, would apply equally to Paul's affirmation : "We have a house [re- 
ferring clearly, it would seem from the connection, to the spiritual body] not made 
with hands eternal in the heavens." Jesus speaks in the next verse : " I go to prepare 
a place for you " ; and yet the place is elsewhere spoken of (Matt. xxv. 34) as '' pre- 
pared for you from the foundation of the world." So we read of " The Lamb slain 
from the foundation of the world." What is fi.xed in the divine purpose is considered 
as already existing. In regard to the many mansions, there is no need, that we should 
figure them as dwelling-places, empty and expectant, actually existing m heaven \ 
but as potential habitations, preparing and to be prepared for an eternal residence. 
Admitting, that the spiritual bodies of the redeemed are meant thereby it is not diffi- 
cult to understand, how that His going before, would have reference to His sending 
the Holy Ghost with his quickening, upbuilding and shaping influences, guiding and 
directing the pneuma at last in the way heretofore indicated, so as to give to everj- 
sanctified personality at or after death his " own body"; whence it would come to 
pass that the number of mansions would correspond to the number of the saved ; and 
each house with its inhabitant would be distinctive and peculiar — differing, it may be, 
as stars differ from one another in glory. The coming again, promised in the same 
connection, nearly all agree, refers to Christ's coming at death. The Swedenborgian 
figment, that by many mansions are meant stellar worlds to which souls are dis- 
tributed, finds no basis in Scripture, nor, we may add. In common sense ; and to mini- 
mize the meaning to the dimensions of so poor a thought, as that there is room (space* 
enough in heaven for all believers, is we think, to do injustice both to the speaker and 
the occasion. 



2IO THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



XVIII. 

RETIRES BEYOND THE JORDAN. 

John xi. 47-54 ; Luke xin. 22 — xv. 31 ; xviii. 1-14. 

CHIEF priests and elders hastened to convoke xl^" 
The Sanhedrim ; and, full of cunning, spoke 
(Under a show of patriotic zeal, 
.Vnd pure affection for the public weal, 
Hiding the venom of their private hate) 
Of great and imminent danger to the State. 
" What are we doing ? Nothing that's of use, 
While He goes on the people to seduce 
By many miracles and wonders great 
And a portentous one of recent date. 
If we let Him alone, ere long all men ^s 

Will think He is the Christ ; the Romans then 
Will come and take away from us, we fear. 
Our place and nation." Caiaphas, that year ^"^ 

Being the high priest, said : " Ye nothing know, 
Else ye would see, to save from overthrow 
The fabric of the Jewish Church and State, 



RETIRES BEYOND THE JORDAN. 21I 

The present is no time to hesitate : {"^^ 

And how, in any case, that this one man 50 

Should for the people die, is better than 

That the whole nation perish." Naught he cared, 

For truth and innocence howe'er declared — 

But herein spake unconscious prophesy, s^ 

That Jesus for the nation then should die ; 

Nor for that nation only, but likewise, s^ 

For all the nations under the whole skies ; 

And that He should assemble from abroad 

Into one Church the scattered sons of God. 

They from that day concerted how they might 53 
Put Him to death. To be from public sight 
Removed, away from danger of arrest, 
He left Jerusalem, and judged it best 
To go to a small town called Ephraim — S4 

And His disciples tarried there with Him. 



Quitting at length the place of His retreat 
.Vgain He crossed the Jordan, and with feet 
That felt fatigue, but felt it to contemn. 
Teaching and journeying towards Jerusalem, 
He passed through towns and villages that lay 
In Herod Antipas' domain. One day, 



Mark 

X. I 



Luke 
xiii.22 



212 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Came certain of the Pharisees to Him, ^^^'^1 

■ Saying, with curling lip and visage grim : 
" Get Thee away, at once, for Herod means 
To kill Thee." Naught from Him their malice 
screens — 32 

So He, knowing informers them to be. 
Said : " Go, and tell that fox, that I cast out 
Demons, and cures perform along My route 
To-day, likewise to-morrow : the third day 33 

My course completed, I will go away. 
I ne'ertheless till then shall walk about, 
Because a prophet cannot perish out 
Of doomed Jerusalem. Jerusalem ! 34 

That kill'st the prophets, and that stonest them 
Who 're sent to thee, how oft I, safe from harms. 
Thy children would have gathered in My arms, 
E'en as the hen, when hawks are hovering, 
Gathers her brood beneath her shelt'ring wing, 
But ye would not — blind, fierce, and obstinate — 
Now is your house left waste and desolate. 35 

As at a ruler's house He sat at meat, ''''■• ' 

Guests were ambitious of the highest seat. '' 

Observing which, this Parable He spake : 



DINES WITH A CHIEF PHARISEE. 



213 



■" When to a wedding thou art bidden, take ^i"*"! 

Not vainly the chief seat at table, lest 

There enter a more honorable guest. 

And the host come to thee, and say aloud : 9 

* Yield this man room ! ' And thou, who wert so 

proud, 
Be forced Avith shame to take the lowest place. 
But when invited, to avoid disgrace, '° 

Go to the lowest seat, that in the end 
The host may tell thee, ' Go up higher, friend ! ' 
Then thou'lt have honor in the sight of all — 
For self descends to rise, and climbs to fall." " 

He said, likewise, to him who was His host : '^ 

" When thovi a dinner or a supper dost 
Provide, ask not thy friends, nor brothers, nor 
Thy kinsmen, nor thy wealthy neighbors, for 
These haply may thee ask in turn, and thence 
Thou may'st receive a selfish recompense. 
But ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, '3 
And thou a heavenly recompense shalt find." ^-^ 

One of the guests, this hearing, warmly said : 's 

" How blessed in God's Kingdom to eat bread !" 
Then Jesus said to him : " A certain man ^^ 



214 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Made a great supper, on a scale and plan ^^^^ 

Royal and rich, inviting many. So ^7 

At supper time, he sent to let them know 

All things were ready. But, with one consent, ^^ 

They all, preoccupied, excuses sent. 

One said : 'I've bought a field which I must see — 

Have me excused.' Another, for that he ^9 

Had bought five yoke of oxen, and must go 

To prove them, prayed to be excused also. 

A third said : ' T just married am — therefore ^°- 

I cannot come.' These several answers bore ^' 

The servant to his waiting Master, who. 

Incensed, said to his servants : ' Go into 

The city's streets and lanes, make search and find, 

And bring in here the poor, maimed, lame and blind.' 

The servants said : ' According to thy will, " 

This has been done, and there 's room vacant still.' 

Once more the Master said : ' Go out again, ^3 

Into the highways and the hedges, and constrain 

Enough my house to fill, and save from waste : 

For not one bidden shall my supper taste.' " ^* 

Now a great multitude, from far and near, •'^^ • ' 

Of publicans and sinners came to hear : 
Drawn far more strongly, than with cords and hooks. 



PARABLE OF THE LOST SHEEP. 2 1 

By the attraction of His loving looks, 3^"'! 

And winning sweetness of His friendly speech. 
And condescension that to them could reach. 
Treated as beings of inferior birth, 
Vile outcasts and offscourings of the earth, 
When now One rose to tell them, though defiled. 
Their Father God still loves His wand'ring child, 
What wonder, that the strange and welcome news 
Should through their hearts an unknown joy diffuse : 
When at this friendliness some took offense. 
He spake these Parables in His defense : 

" What man, the owner of a hundred sheep, 
If one, through failure with the flock to keep. 
Be lost, doth not the others leave behind 
There in the wold, and go the lost to find ? 
And, having found it, doth not lay it there 
On his glad shoulders, and it homeward bear, 
And say to friends and neighbors gathered round : 
' Rejoice with me for I the lost have found ' ? 
So a diviner joy from Heaven doth flow 
Out towards one sinner that repents below. 
Than ninety-nine self-righteous persons, who 
Need no repentance or suppose they do." 



2i6 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

" What woman with ten drachmas, losing one, ^"^1 
Lights not a lamp to aid th' excluded sun ; 
Sweeps not the house, and searches not all round, 
Until she find it ? And, when it is found, 9 

Doth not her neighbors summon, and accost : 
' Rejoice with me, I've found the piece I lost ' ? 

'' A father had two sons. The younger said, " 

* Father ! of thy estate be my share paid.' " 

And he allotted to each son his share. 
The younger son began then to prepare ^3 

For his departure — gathered all and sold- — 
Turning the fixed into convenient gold. 
And journeyed to a country far away. 
And there in endless riot night and day. 
Wasted his substance. And, when all was spent, ''^ 
A famine there arose of wide extent ; 
And he began to be in want. So deep 's 

His need, he lent himself the swine to keep : 
But no man gave him aught, till he was led ^^ 

To crave the husks on which the hogs were fed. 
Come to himself, the thought sprang into view, ^7 
^ How many hirelings has my father, who 
Have more bread than suffices, while I here 
Perish with hunger, ending mad career. 



PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON. 217 

I will arise and to my father go, ^^^^"^^ 

And I Avill say unto him : Father ! lo, 

I 've sinned, have greatly sinned, 'gainst Heaven and 

thee, 
And therefore am not worthy more to be ^9 

Counted a son. Make me, I am content, 
One of thy hirelings.' He arose and went. =° 

Him when the father afar off descried. 
Moved with compassion, he to meet him hied. 
And fell upon his neck, and kissed him much. 
The love and longing in his heart were such. 

" With tears fast flowing, pierced with new distress, 
He should have ever grieved such tenderness, =' 

The son said, ' Father ! I have sinned 'gamst light. 
Before the face of Heaven and in thy sight. 
And am not worthv to be called thy son.' 

" But said the father to the servants, ' Run, "^^ 

Bring hither the best robe — rags are unmeet — 
A ring put on his hand, shoes on his feet. 
And bring the fatted calf and quickly slay, =3 

And let us feast, and merry be to-day. 
For this my son was dead (let joy abound) ^+ 

And lives again: was lost, and, lo, is found.' 

" The elder son Avas absent in the field, ^s 

So what had happened was from hmi concealed. 



2l8 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Returning home, he heard, as he drew nigh, '^^^^_^_ 

Music and dancing ; and, till he knew why. 

He would not enter, but remained without. 

Asking a servant what 't was all about, ^^ 

The servant said to him : ' Thy brother 's come — ^7 

Thy father gives this festive welcome home. 

Has killed the fatted calf, made mirth abound, 

Because he has received him safe and sound.' 

When asked to enter, he refused with heat : ^^ 

Therefore the father came out to entreat. 

" He said : ' Lo, I thee many years have served, ^9 
And have from none of thy commandments swerved : 
And yet thou never gavest me a kid, 
My friends to pleasure ; but no sooner did 30 

This spendthrift son return, who has ere now 
Squandered on prostitutes th)^ means, than thou 
Killedst for him the fatted calf.' 'Nay, son,' s' 

The father said, ' grieve not at what is done. 
Thou'rt ever with me, and all mine is thine. 
Be not so foolish then as to repine. 
'T was meet, that we a festive joy should spread. 32^ 
For this, thy brother, was aforetime dead. 
And is alive again — lost in the wold. 
Is found at last and brought into the fold.' " 



THE LOST FOUND. 219 



THE LOST FOUND. 

I sing the Shepherd of the sheep : 
Who, for the love He bore the fold, 

Did wade through sorrows dark and deep. 
And freely give His life of old. 

I sing the love, so strange, so sweet, 
That sought the lost until it found — 

With aching heart, and bleeding feet. 
And flowing tears that wet the ground. 

I sing the goodness of our God, . 

The patient pity and the grace. 
That left no dreadful path untrod 

To seek and save the human race. 

Great Shepherd of the nations ! Thou, 
Bishop of souls, go forth to find 

Thy scattered flock ! O gather now 
The straying millions of mankind ! 



220 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

He said to His disciples : " Hear ye too : l;^^^ 

A certain rich man had a steward, who, 
Accused of wasting his estate, was thrust ^ 

Out of his stewardship for breach of trust. 
As sad he mused, a shrewd thought upward flamed : s 
' I cannot dig, to beg I am ashamed 
But there 's a way by which, when here I leave, ^ 
Some of my master's friends will me I'eceive.' 

" He called to him the debtors of his lord, s 

And spake to each the same sly cunning word : 
• How much,' he asked, the first, ' is it thou ow'st ? 
' A hundred baths of oil,' he answered. ' Dost ^ 

Thou wish 't were less ? Take back thy script, and 

now 
Write one for fifty.' ' How much owest thou?' ? 

He asked another, who replied : ' Of wheat 
A hundred homers.' ' The amount 's too great — 
Take back thy script, and write one for four-score.' 
Clever the scheme, a thing to chuckle o'er. ® 

His lord admired the fitness of the plan 
To win the favor of his fellow man. 
For children of this world, in their affairs, 
Are wiser than the sons of light in theirs. 



TRUE USE OF RICHES. 221 



" Not worshipped as a god, but held a tool 
To work the pleasure of the hands that rule, 
Yourselves can carry on by Mammon even 
A gainful commerce with the ports of heaven : 
Deceitful riches can procure you friends. 
When used as righteous means to righteous ends ; 
Can gain the friendship of the powers above, 
By alms of mercy and by bribes of love. 
So use your money, that when earth ye leave, 
They into everlasting homes may you receive. 

" He that is faithful in a little (such 
The general law) is faithful too in much. 
He that unrighteous is in matters small, 
Unrighteous is in great things and in all. 
If in low monetary trusts untrue. 
Who will commit true riches unto you ? 
If in another's, ye have weakness shown, 
Who will believe you equal to your own ? 
Ye cannot faithful and unfaithful be, 
Be friends of God and serve His enemy. 

Lovers of money, when the Pharisees 
Heard Him declare these things, they, ill at ease. 
Began to jeer, and sneer at Him, and scoff. 



Luke 
xvi. — 



222 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

He said to them: " Ye may with men pass off ^^^^^ 
Yourselves for righteous, but God knows your hearts, 
And all the lustings of your inward parts. 
Self is your God, for self ye spend or hoard ; 
But what 's admired of men, of God 's abhorred. 
While ye can sit as princes, what care ye 
Your brother pines in want and misery ? 

" There Avas a man exceeding- rich, who clad "^ 

In purple and fine linen, daily had 
Whate'er could minister gluttonous delight : 
AVhile at his gate there lay, a piteous sight. ^ 

A beggar full of sores, named Lazarus, 
Desiring naught of the vast overplus 
Whereon to feed but sweepings of the floors : ^' 

And the dogs came and licked his undressed sores. 
The beggar dying, he was borne away " 

To Abraham's bosom. On another day. 
The rich man also died, and with parade 
And haughty pomp was to the tomb conveyed. 
And he, in hades, lifting up his eyes, '^ 

Being in torments, Abraham descries 
Afar with Lazarus upon his breast, 
Free from his sores, most happy and at rest. 



THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS. 



223 



Luke 
-xvi. - 



Himself a beggar now — from depths of grief 

He hurls a mighty cry for some relief, ^* 

Across the distance, reaching Abraham's ear : 

■' Have pity, father Abraham, and here 

Send Lazarus to dip his finger's tip 

In water, thus to cool my tongue and lip, 

For I'm tormented in this flame.' But he 's 

Said, ' Son, remember choice was given thee, 

And thou didst have the things which thy heart would. 

All bodily delights and earthly good ; 

And Lazarus had his evil things below — 

But now while he 's in joy thou art in woe. 

A gulf impassable, moreo'er, is fixed ^^ 

Of separation us and thee betwixt.' 

The other said : ' Then, father, send I pray -7 

Him to my father's house, that so he may 

Warn my five brethren lest they here too come— "^ 

The grave 's now silent and the dead are dumb.' 

But Abraham replied : ' Already they ^9 

Have Moses and the Prophets.' Said he : ' Nay, 30 

O father, but if from the dead one went 

And warned them, they, in that case, would repent.' 

■" Not so. If them they hear not,' Abraham said, 3' 

They would not hear though one rose from the dead.' " 



224 ^^^ LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

That he might confidence to men impart J^-^^% 

To persevere in prayer, and not lose heart, 
He spake this Parable. " There was," He said, = 

"A certain judge, of God 'nor man afraid, 
Venal, unjust, not caring for the right, 
To all but his own ease indifferent quite, 
A selfish sybarite devoid of shame. 
To him a widow of that city came, 3 

Saying, ' Uphold, I pray, my righteous cause, 
And vindicate the justice of the laws.' 
He Avould not for a while, but afterward, < 

He said within himself, ' Though I regard 
Not right, lest I be battered'"' with her prayers, s 

I'll righteous judgment give in her affairs.' 
Hear what the unjust judge was moved to do. ^ 

And will not God redress His chosen, who " 

Cry day and night to Him ! I tell you. Yea, ^ 

And that with speed, though there seem long delay. 
When comes the Son of Man shall He find dearth 
And scarcity of faith upon the earth ? " 

He spake this Parable to those, who thought 
They were the righteous, and all others naught : 

* The literal meaning of the original Greek is " to make black and blue under the 
eyes by blows." 



THE PHARISEE AND PUBLICAN. 225 

" Two men up to the Temple went one day — xvhi'"lc> 

A Pharisee and PubUcan — to pray. 

Standing apart the Pharisee began " 

His brag : * O God, I thank Thee I'm a man, 

Not as the rest of men, I proudly trust, 

Extortioners, adulterers, unjust, 

Or as this Publican. 1, each week, lo ! ^^ 

Fast twice. I tithes of all I have bestow.' 

Meanwhile the Publican with heavy sighs, ^3 

Standing afar, afraid to lift his eyes, 

Smote on his breast, and cried : ' I am undone ! 

Be merciful to me, the sinful one.' 

This man went justified, I say to you, ^4 

Down to his house the rather of the two. 

For who exalts himself shall humbled be, 

The road to honor is humility." 

Matt, xix 13-30 ; Mark x. 13-31 ; Like xviii. 15-30. 

Then they brought babes to Him, that he might 
iay XIX. 13 

His dear caressing hands on them and pray : 
And the disciples censured them for it. 
And Jesus said : " The little ones permit '4 

To come to Me, and do not them prevent — 

15 



226 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Essential is the childlike element, .;d^^- 

Trustful and clinging, finding food and rest, 
Warmth and protection on the mother's breast — 
Of such God's Kingdom is. Be not beguiled ! ^^f^ 
Who enters it must enter as a child." 
Taking them in His arms He them caressed, '^ 

And laid His loving hands on them and blessed. 

A ruler came to Him, while on His way, .^7 

And kneeling said : " Good Master ! tell, I pray. 
What shall I do eternal life to win ? " 
He said : " The good is one who has no sin ; '^ 

Why callest thou Me good ? Dost thou Me know ? 
None 's good but God, who 's absolutely so. 
Thou knowest the Commandments ; keep each one ! ""' 
He said, " From my youth up, I this have done: -° 
What lack I that I may be perfected ? " 
Then Jesus looked on him with love, and said : ^' 

" Wouldst thou be perfect, and forever live, 
Go, sell, and to the poor thy substance give ; 
And come, take up thy cross, and follow Me, 
Mid persecution, shame and poverty. 
For My sake, thou must count all things as loss, 
Thy reputation and thy riches dross : 



THE DANGER OF RICHES. 227 

Fop these thou 'It forfeit, and 't were therefore wise 

To sit down first, and weigh the sacrifice. 

Like one who thinks, ere he begins a tower, ^^^g 

Whether to finish it be in his power. 

Or like a king, ere he to battle goes, 31 

Considers well the number of his foes." 



Mark 

X. 22 



At this he went away with heavy heart, 
With his possessions not content to part. 

Then Jesus His disciples thus addressed : =3 

" How difficult it is for those possessed 
Of wealth to enter in at the strait gate ! 
So prone are men its worth to overrate — 
To trust in riches, and more highly prize *+ 

The earthly good than treasures in the skies. 
'T were easier for a camel to pass through =^5 

A needle's eye, than that hard thing to do." 
They said, astonished, " Who then can be saved ? " ^^ 
" What is not possible with men depraved, =? 

Matt. 
xix. 27 



Is possible with God through offered grace." 



Peter began to say with foolish face : 

" Lo ! we've forsaken all and followed Thee — 

What shall we have therefore ?" " Be sure, that ye — ^^ 



228 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Who Me have followed (O the grace of it !) ^^/^^'!i 

In the regeneration,* when shall sit 

The Son of Man upon His glorious throne, 

Subduing hearts by might of Truth alone — 

Shall be My sovereign mouth, and shall declare 

My royal will, and what My judgments are. 

Your words inspired shall be the end of strife. 

The rule of faith and guiding law of life. 

Until the renovation is complete, 

And the whole world comes bowing to My feet. 

None have house, parents, brethren, children, wife ^^ 

Left for My sake, who shall not, in this life. 

Receive an hundred fold, and, in the age 

To come, eternal life — but not as wage. 

Matt. xx. i-i6. 

" For in the government of its affairs, ^^"^ 

Messiah's Kingdom a resemblance bears, 
Unto a householder, who had desire 
Into his vineyard laborers to hire, 

*The regeneration of the race is the regeneration of individual souls, and this we 
believe is ever going on. The Son of Man is surely now sitting on the throne of His 
glory, being to the right hand of God exalted, and having a name above every name. 
So the Apostles (certainly ever since the day of Pentecost) have been sitting on their 
thrones, with their authority so universally acknowledged down to our time, that 
from their judgments there is no appeal. Here surely is ample fulfilment. Compared 
with this, the glory of actual thrones, crowns and sceptres is vulgar and poor. 



PARABLE OF THE HIRED LABORERS. 229 

So went out early, and agreed to pay, ^^"^• 

To those employed, a penny each a day. 

He, going at the end of three hours space, 3 

Saw others idle in the market place, 

.Vnd said to them : ' Into my vineyard go, ^ 

And what is right I will on you bestow.' 

He, at the sixth hour, and the ninth, went out, 5 

And did the same. Again he found, about ^ 

Th' eleventh hour, more standing, and said : ' Why 

Stand idle all the day ? ' They made reply : 7 

' Because no man has hired us.' He said then, 

' Go ye also into the vineyard.' When 

Night came, the owner to the steward said : ^ 

' Call laborers, and let their hire be paid. 

Be there a penny to each one disbursed. 

Beginning from the last unto the first. 9 

When those hired first, received the penny due, '° 
They murmured and found fault, and said : 'We who " 
Have borne the heat and burden of the day, " 

Working twelve hours, receive but equal pay 
With those who've wrought but one.' 

He one addressed 
More turbulent and noisy than the rest : 
" Friend ! I do thee no wrong, for didst thou not '3 



230 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Matt. 

XX. 14. 



Agree to work for that ? Then take up what 
Is thine, and go thy way. It shall thus be. 
I '11 give the last the same as I give thee. 
May I not with my own do what I would? 
Is thine eye evil because I am good ? ' 



Thus shall the first be last, who murmur blame ; '^ 

And the last first, because they make no claim. 

Salvation is a gift in any case ; 

Were it of debt, it would not be of grace. 

Many are called, but most the call refuse ; "-t 

Few are the chosen, for they 're few that choose." 

Luke xvii. 7-10. 

Saw'st thou thy servant coming from the field ? 
Wouldst thou precedence at thy table yield ? 
Or say : ' Make ready thou, and on Me wait. 
Then thou shalt eat ?' Or wouldst thou rate 
His lawful service as a favor? No! 
He simply did that which he ought, I trow. 
So judge yourselves unprofitable, when you 
Have only done what you were bound to do. 



Luke 
xvii. 7 



JAMES AND JOHN'S AMBITION. 23 1 



XIX. 

RETURN TO JERUSALEM THROUGH JERICHO. 
Matt. xv. 17-34 ; Mark x. 32-52 ; Luke xviii. 31-43 ; xix. 1-44. 

WHILE on their way up to Jerusalem, ^'^""^ 

Jesus with steady step preceding- them, 
Amazement fell on them, and they were made, 
As Him they followed, mightily afraid. 
Taking the Twelve apart. He said to them : 
" Behold, we go up to Jerusalem : 33 

And, lo, the Son of Man betrayed shall be 
Unto the Sanhedrim, that, presently, 
Shall Him consign, whom they 've condemned to die,3+ 
To Gentile hands to scourge and crucify. 
But He on the third day shall rise again — 
For not the grave can longer Him detain." 

The mother of the sons of Zebedee 35 

To Jesus came, and asked, on bended knee, 

He would one favor grant. He said : " Explain ! 36 

What wouldst thou ?" She replied : " That in Thy 

Reign, 37 



232 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



One of my sons may sit on Thy right hand, 
The other on Thy left, in high command." 
But Jesus, all forseeing, sadly said : 
'' Your fond request is ignorantly made — 
Ye know not what ye ask. Do ye then think 
That ye can drink the cup that I must drink ? 
And with My baptism be yourselves baptized ?" 
They said : " We can do all therein comprised." 
" These ye, indeed, shall do and undergo ; 
But that, ye ask, is not Mine to bestow 
On human grounds of personal regard — 
Essential fitness governs the award." 
And when the ten heard of it, every one 
Felt indignation against James and John. 

But Jesus, having called them to Him, said : 
" Ye know the Gentiles have their princely head- 
Rulers to rule and great ones to bear sway — 
Not so with you. Ye 're taught to put away. 
As best befits meek learners in My school, 
All winged ambitions and proud thoughts of rule 
Who would be great, therefore, let him be small : 
Who would be chief, the servant be of all. 
The Son of Man e'en came to serve, and give 
His life a ransom, that the slave might live." 



Mark 



BLIND BARTIMEUS.— ZACCHEUS. 



233 



As Jesus entered Jericho, along ^^^^ 

With His disciples and a numerous throng- 
Blind Bartimeus by the wayside sat, 
Begging. When he was told by some one, that 47 
Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, 
Losing no time, he straight began to cry : 
'' O Lord, Thou Son of David, pity me !" 
When some rebuked, and bade him silent be, •'^ 

He only cried the more : " Have pity. Lord ' 
Thou Son of David, pity me afford !" 
Jesus stood still and said : " Call ye him here." '*'> 

They to the blind man said : " Be of good cheer — 
He calleth thee." His mantle thrown aside. 
He sprang up quickly and to Jesus hied, so 

Who said : " What wouldst thou have Me do to 
thee ?" 51 

The blind man said : " Rabboni, make me see. 
" Go !" Jesus said, "th}^ faith hath given thee sight."s= 
Straightway he saw, and praised the Lord of light. 



Passing through Jericho, a well known man. 
Rich, named Zaccheus, a chief publican, 
Sought to see Jesus, but this could not do, 
Because the crowd His person hid from view. 



Luke 
xix. I 



234 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

He, being of low stature, ran before, !^"^^ 

And climbed into a spreading sycamore 

Along the route, to see Him as He passed. 

When Jesus reached the tree. He stopped, and cast 5 

An upward look, and said, as him He spied, 

" Come down, Zaccheus, for I must abide 

Within thy hospitable doors to-day." 

Surprised, he, coming down without delay, ^ 

Received Him joyfully. The multitude ^ 

Beholding this, with grumblings Him pursued, 

Saying : " He 's gone with one that 's under ban — 

An outcast Jew, a hateful publican — 

To lodge, and eat, and thus Himself defile." 

But in Zaccheus there was wrought meanwhile ^ 
A mighty penitence. He stood and spake : 
"I, Lord, a gift of half my goods now make 
Unto the poor. If I have, heretofore, 
Taken aught wrongfully, I will restore 
Fourfold." And Jesus said : " In truth I say, 9 

Salvation to this house has come to-day : 
For that the Son of Man, at His own cost, '° 

Has come to seek and save that which is lost." 

Seeing they listened. He went on to tell " 



PARABLE OF THE TEN POUNDS. 



235 



Th' expectant multitude a Parable — ^x''- 

Who thought, because Jerusalem was near, 

He in His Kingdom straightway would appear. 

" A nobleman — preparing to resort • '^ 

To the far city of th' Imperial Court, 

To take to him his kingship and return — 

That their trustworthiness he so might learn, '^ 

Gave to ten servants all an equal sum, 

One pound to each, and said : ' Use till 1 come.' 

But hated- by the citizens, these sent '+ 

An embassy th' investure to prevent — 

Saying, ' We will not have him for our king.' 

" When he returned — in all things prospering — '> 
Having all rights of royalty obtained — 
That he might know what every one had gained, 
He called those servants he had money given. 

" Then came the first and said : ' Lord ! thanks to 
Heaven, '^ 

Thy pound has gained ten pounds.' He said, ' Well 
done, '7 

Good servant ! faithful found in this small one, 
Have thou a grander trust — the government 
Over ten cities.' ' Lord ! the pound me lent,' '^ 

The second said, ' has gained five pounds.' ' Ev'n so, '* 



XIX. 20 



236 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Be o'er five cities.' Said another : ' Lo ! ^"^^^^ 

Here is thy pound, which I with care kept laid 
Up in a napkin, for I was afraid, 
Because thou art a man austere and hard, 
To rights of others paying no regard, 
Exacting that which never was thine own. 
And reaping that which thou hadst never sown.' 
" ' I, out of thine own mouth, will thee convict. 
Thou wicked servant. Knowing I was strict. 
Austere, exacting what was not my own. 
And reaping that which I had never sown, 
Why gav'st thou not my pound to one to use, 
That 1 might not thereon my interest lose ?* 
He said to his attendants standing round : 
' Take ye away from him his unused pound. 
And give to him who has gained ten.' But they. 
Surprise evincing, he went on to say : 
' To every one that has, and adds thereto, 
Shall more be given : whereas the slothful, who 
Has and adds naught, shall not keep that he has, 
Since found unfaithful and unfit. But as 
For those my foes who would not have me reign. 
Let them be brought and in my presence slain.' " 



TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM. 237 



Having thus spoken, going on before, 



Luke 
xix. 28 



He pressed on to Jerusalem, once more. 

And came to Bethany, where Lazarus dwelt, 5^^*^ 

Whom He had raised to life. The chief priests felt "^ 

Against the current it was vain to strive, " 

While this miraculous witness was alive, 

So they designed His death. Already they 

Had taken means to Jesus seize and slay. 

Haste, careful Martha, thy Lord's couch prepare, 
For He intends this night thy house to share. 

On the next day (which was five days before '"^ 

That Passover, when should — in type once more. 
Then once for all in fact and not again — 
The spotless Lamb of God for us be slain) 
Fulfilling prophecy — all prescient 
Of what would be — He two disciples sent, ^^^^^^ 

Saying : " Go to yon village, ye shall find 30 

A colt there tied, ne'er ridden yet, unbind 
And bring him here. Should any one inquire, 31 

' Why loose ye him ? ' say 't is by My desire. 
The Lord has need of him." They went and found 32 
As he had said ; and, with consent, unbound 33 

And brought the colt to Jesus : and this done, 34 



238 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

They threw on him their garments, and thereon, ^^^^^^ 
Not otherwise caparisoned, Him set. 
The honored beast, though all unbroken, yet 
Not needing check nor guidance, onward went, 
Knowing his rider, with proud step but bent 
Low reverent neck, while many in the road 36 

Their garments spread ; and others lopped' and 
strowed ^i^*"^ 

Branches of myrtle ; fronds of palms some bore ; 
And those who followed, and who went before, 9 

Together cried : " Hosanna to the Son ^f ^ 

Of David ! Blessed be th' Anointed One ! 
The King of Israel, of mighty fame, 
Approved and coming in Jehovah's name ! 
Daughter of Zion, eastward look ! behold. 
Thy King approaches, even as foretold, s 

Meek, sitting on an ass's colt ! Long live 
Messiah ! peaceful be His reign ! Now give ^^^^^ 
Glory to God, glad hallelujahs sing, 
In lofty celebration of our King ! " 

The people, who were present, witness gave j[^^"^ 
They Lazarus had seen come from the grave, 
And this drew many ; many more beside '^ 



CHRIST'S LAMENT OVER JERUSALEM. 239 

From Galilee, of Jesus testified, /i-'*'^ 

Thereby augmenting the triumphing throng, 
That sang hosannas as He passed along. 

The Pharisees, alarmed at what they saw, '9 

Exclaim, as they in groups together draw, 
" Of what avail is all we 've said and done? 
Behold, the whole world after Him is gone." 
Some sharply spake, as if to His behoof : ^^^^^ 

" Give thou to Thy disciples stern reproof ! " 
But Jesus said : " If these refused to shout, *° 

The stones for shame would instantly cry out." 

When He drew nigh and saw the City, He ■*' 

Burst into tears of grief and sympathy, 
And said : " O hadst thou known ere this, ev'n thou,'*^ 
The things relating to th)^ peace ! but now 
They're hidden from thine eyes. For soon the da)'s 43 
Will come upon thee, when thy foes will raise 
A bank about thee, compass thee around 
In closest siege, and dash thee to the ground, 44 

And in the ruins will thy children crush, 
And will not leave thee in the downward rush 
One stone upon another, seeing thou 
Knew'st not thine opportunity was now." 



240 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Jerusalem now entered, it occurred .■^f"i"o. 

That the whole city was profoundly stirred. 
When, "Who is this?" was heard on every side, 
Th' attendant multitude at once replied : " 

" A Prophet this of great celebrity, 
Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee." 
Alighting, He into the Temple came, '+ 

And, moved with pity, healed the blind and lame. 
But when the chief priests and the scribes beheld '^ 
The wonders He performed — heard, unrepelled. 
The children, crying in the Temple, say, 
" Hosanna to the Son of David,"— they 
Great indignation and surprise express : 
" Hear'st Thou what these are saying ?" He said, 
« Yes ! '6 

Did ye ne'er read (when men are dumb as now) 
' Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings. Thou 
Defective praise hast perfected ' ?" Then He '? 

Went with the Twelve and lodged in Bethany. 

As to the City early He returned ^f^^ 

Next morn, a fig tree He afar discerned, "^3 

Leafy and fair, and promising much fruit. 
But, when He came. He found there naught to suit. 
Nothing but leaves. " Let no fruit grow," He said ''^ 



SECOND CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE. 



241 



" On thee henceforth ! " — and straight the tree was 
dead. ^^^'^ 

Going into the Temple, stern and bold, ^s 

He 'gan to cast out them that bought and sold. 
The tables of the brokers overthrew. 
And seats of trafifickers in doves, anew* — '^ 

Saying : " My House, 't is written, shall be styled '7 
The House of Prayer, but ye have it defiled. 
And made the sacred place a robbers' den, 
The unhallowed haunt of false and thievish men." 
The scribes and chief priests having of this heard, '^ 
Maddened yet more, by murd'rous fury urged, 
They would have seized Him, but were checked by 

fear. 
For Him the people came in crowds to hear — 
(He all day, teaching, in the Temple spent. 
And to the Mount of Olives nightly went). '^ 

As He was walking in the Temple, they =7 

With haughty bearing, challenged Him to say, 
By what authority He dared thus do. 
He said : " I will one question ask of you, ^^ 

Which, if ye answer, honoring truth and fact, 

* See the Evangel, p. 367, for an account of the first cleansing. 
16 



242 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

I '11 tell by what authority I act. ^^'^ 

Touching John's baptism, whence (tell if you can) 30 

Was it ? from Heaven ? or did it come from man ? " 

They reasoned thus among themselves : " If we 3' 

Shall say, ' From Heaven,' His reply will be, 

' Why did ye not believe him then ? ' But if s^ 

We say, ' From man,' we fear the people, stiff 

In the conviction and belief that John 

Was certainly a prophet." Whereupon 33 

They said, " We cannot tell." " Nor tell I you. 

By what authority I these things do." 

" What think you of the story here rehearsed ? ^^^^"g 
A man, who had two sons, said to the first : 
' Go, work to-day, son, in my vineyard.' He 
Unfilially refused, but, speedily, =9 

Repented of his wickedness, and went. 
He bade the second, who with feigned assent 3° 

Replied : ' I go, sir,' but went not. Now say. 
Which of the twain his father did obey ? " 31 

They said, " The first." " E'en so I say to you, 
Ye promise, feign, profess, and fail to do. 
Of mortal sins, no doubt, the greatest one 
Is the complacent consciousness of none. 



THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN, 

What wonder, since repentance is the door, 
Harlots and publicans go in before ! 
For John came in the way of righteousness — 
Strict, separate, austere in food and dress — 
And ye believed him not, but these believed, 
And full remission of their sins received : 

" Hear ye another Parable : A man 
Planted a vineyard on a generous plan, 
Hedged it round, dug a wine-vat, built a tower. 
And gave to certain husbandmen the power 
To keep and till it ; and then went away 
To a far country a long while to stay. 
And, when the season of the fruit drew near. 
He sent a servant to receive his share : 
And him they seized and beat and sent away 
Empty. He sent another then ; and they 
Him stoned, and wounded badly in the head. 
And handled shamefully. Then, in his stead, 
A third was sent, and many more — this one 
They beat, that killed. He lastly sent his son, 
His only son, unutterably dear. 
Saying, * My son at least they will revere.' 
But they, in council met, his death conspire. 



243 

Matt. 
xxi. — 



Mark 
xii. I 



244 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Mark 



Matt. 
x.\i. 41 



' Behold,' they said, ' all is as we desire ; 
This is the heir ; let us, now he 's alone, 
Him kill, and make th' inheritance our own.' 
They thrust him out the vineyard, and him slew 
What will the lord then of the vineyard do ? 
He '11 come, and will these wicked men destroy, 
And others give the vineyard to enjoy. 
So shall God's Kingdom taken be from you, 
And giv'n a nation yielding fruitage due." 



They, when they heard it, said : " Let it not be !" 
And Jesus, looking on them, spake : " Have ye 
Never the meaning of that Scripture weighed — 
' The Stone, the builders disallowed, is made 
Head of the corner by the Lord all wise. 
This is His work and wondrous in our eyes ' ? 
Who, stumbling, falls on it, is shattered found : 
But he, on whom it falls, to dust is ground." 



Knowing the Parable 'gainst them was said, ^ 

They would have seized Him, but they were afraid. * 



TRIBUTE TO C^SAR. 



245 



XX. 

NEARING THE END. 

Matt. xxii. 15-46; Makk xii. 13-17 ; Luke xx. 20-44. 



Mark 
xii. 13 



ON His destruction constantly intent, 
They partizans of Herod to Him sent, 
To snare Him in His words, and get some ground 
On which a charge of fatal sort to found 
Before the Roman governor, whose breath 
Determined questions touching life and death. 
Disloyalty to Csesar could they prove, 
This would one serious obstacle remove, 
Which must attend a sentence, they foresaw. 
Grounded on simple breach of Jewish law. 
When they were come to Him, with tongue of guile, 
Feigning respect, they said in wheedling style : 
" Rabbi ! we know, that Thou in all art true, '* 

Speaking Thy thought concerning what is due. 
Fearless and bold, and caring not for men. 
Tell us, we pray Thee, whai Thou thinkest then — 



2^6 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Ought we to Caesar tribute pay, or no ?" ^il- 

He said : " Why tempt ye Me ? Your craft I know, 's 
Bring Me a penny* that I it may see." 
They brought it, and He said : " Will ye tell Me, '^ 
Whose is this image, and whose legend 's here ?" 
They answered, "Caesar's." "Then your duty 's clear : 
Render to Caesar that which Caesar's is ; '^ 

And give to God likewise whate'er is His." 
Baffled and silenced, having naught to say. 
Admiring His address, they went their way. 



Matt 
xxii. 2-5 



Came Sadducees to Him on the same day- 
Deniers of the resurrection. They, 
Thinking to puzzle Him, a question raise, ="* 

Based on Mosaic statute-law,t which says, 
' That if a man die childless, then, indeed. 
His brother shall his widow wed, and seed 
Raise to his brother.' " Now there were," they said,^^ 
" With us seven brethren. Th' eldest being dead. 
No children having had, his wife was left 
To be his brother's. She again bereft, "^ 

* A denarius, a Roman silver coin, worth about 17 cents. Its purchasing value has 
been estimated at four or five times that. The drachma was a Greek coin of nearly 
the same value as the denarius. 

tit was named the "Levirate" — from the Latin levir, a husband's brother, or, 
brother-in-law. 



QUESTION OF THE SADDUCEES. 247 

Was married to the third, so up to seven : ^^-f ^-^ 

To which of these will she be wife in heaven, ^^ 

After the resurrection ?" Jesus said : ^9 

" Ye err, not having right the Scriptures read. 
Nor known the power of God ; for, when they rise, 3° 
They 're like th' unmarried angels in the skies. 

" Touching the resurrection of the dead, 3^ 

Have ye not in the book of Moses read. 
How in the bush God to him spake : ' I am 3^ 

Thy fathers' God, the God of Abraham, 
Of Isaac, and of Jacob.' God is hence, 33 

Not in the preterite but present tense, 
Their God, not as extinct, but living yet." 
Ev'n foes were glad at the defeat they met. 

The Pharisees He question'd : " What think ye ■»' 
Of the Messiah ? Whose Son should He be ?" ^^ 

They answer, " David's." " How does this accord t3 
With what he by the Spirit says : ' The Lord 
Said to my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, ^^ 

In universal and supreme command. 
Until Thy victory be made complete. 
And all Thy foes be put beneath Thy feet.' 
If David's Son, how calls he Him his Lord ?" ^^ 

And none of them could answer Him a word. 



248 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Matt, xxiii. 1-39 ; Mark xii. 38-44 ; Luke xx. 45-xxi. 4. 

He, in the hearing of the people, said ^^^^ 

To His disciples: " Be ye not betrayed 46 

By the example of the Scribes, who love — 
Dressed in long flowing robes to stately move, 
. And greetings in the market-place respect. 
And first seats in the synagogues affect, 
And covet the first couches at the feasts — 
But who, like hungry and ferocious beasts. 
Devour defenceless widows' maintenance. 
And make long frequent prayers for a pretence, 
The better to entrap them and deceive. 
These shall a heavier punishment receive." 

He, speaking to the multitude, besides ^.^\ 

His own disciples, said : " Because the Scribes 
And Pharisees now sit in Moses' seat, 
And God's commandments and His laws repeat, 
Whate'er they bid you, that observe and do, 3 

But all their juggling falsities eschew, 
For that they say, and do not — by all modes 
Binding intolerable and grievous loads ' 4 

On others' shoulders, which they '11 not so much 
As with one solitary finger touch. 



LAW AND PENALTY. 



249 



Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, who dare xxJii"i3 

Before th' All-seeing, act a part,* and wear 

A mask, and personate and play the saint. 

While all your sanctity is but a feint — 

So used to your disguise, ye hardly dream 

That ye are otherwise than what ye seem. 

Woe to you, hypocrites ! The woe to state 

Is not to wish it or to imprecate. 

I speak to warn you. Ye yourselves must know 

Sin is the sure progenitor of woe. 

The genial flame that warms you, also hath 

A dreadful potency of dreadful wrath — 

Woe to the foolish hand, that wakes the ire 

And retribution of the vengeful fire ! 

All woe and suffering, rightly understood, 

Implies some false relation to the good. 

A wrong position to the universe 

Will turn the best of things into a curse. 

The light is sweet, and pleasant to the eye 

The sun's bright pomp proceeding through the sky, 

But woe to eyes that turn to it inflamed ! 

Yet, for the anguish, shall the light be blamed ? 

*The earlier meaning of the Greek word 'YnoKpiTTJ^ (Hypocrite) is "one ^vho plays 
rt/rtri" on the stage," "a player," " an actor ;" whence comes the later meaning, "a 
dissembler," "feigner," " hypocrite." 



250 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Because ye suffer, shall the sun be wrenched xxiil"— 

From its bright orbit, and its beams be quenched ? 

Which would ye have, the suffering sense made whole ? 

Or palsy strike the universal soul ? 

Would ye abolish feeling to obtain 

Exemption and relief from local pain ? 

' Woe to the man who sins,' all nature cries ! 

And, ' Woe !' the Spirit in the Word replies ! 

But greater woe to him, who healing grace 

Keeps back from any of the human race ! 

" Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, therefore, '^ 
Who keep a jealous watch, and shut the door 
Of the New Kingdom, which to enter in 
Is full salvation from the power of sin — 
Not entering yourselves, and, those about 
To enter, hindering and barring out. 
Woe, for ye roam o'er sea, and land as well, 's 

To make one proselyte a child of hell. 

" Blind guides ! that say, ' Who by the Temple 
swear, '^ 

They are not bound ; if by the gold that 's there 
They swear, the oath holds good.' Ye fools and blind ! 
Which greater is, the gold, or that behind, ^^ 

The Temple's self, which sanctifies the gold ? 



WOES DENOUNCED. 



251 



' Who by the Altar swears, it does not hold ; 
But who swears by the gift that thereon lies, 
The same is bound.' Ye blind, not having eyes ! 
For is the gift more, or the altar more 
That sanctifies the gift ? He who, therefore, 
Swears by the altar, swears by what it bears. 
So likewise, he, who by the Temple swears. 
Swears both by it and Him that there abides. 
Who swears by Heaven, he swears by God besides 

"Woe to you. Scribes and Pharisees ! because. 
While ye tithe mint, ye slight eternal laws 
Requiring justice, mercy, faith : the one 
Ye do, but leave the weightier undone. 
Blind guides ! who filter out the gnat scarce seen. 
But gulp the camel monstrous and unclean. 
Woe to you, hypocrites, because ye wish 
To cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, 
But care not they 're filled up and foul within. 
From robbery, iniquity, and sin : — 
Blind Pharisee ! first th' inside purify. 
For e'en the outside shall be cleansed thereby. 

"Woe to you, hypocrites ! for ye are like 
To whited sepulchres, whose seemings strike, 
Outwardly fair, but, all within the stones, 



Matt, 
x.xiii. 18 



252 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Foulness unspeakable and dead men's bones : xxnf - 

So ye seem righteous, but ye ne'ertheless ^^ 

Are full of inward lies and rottenness. 

Woe to you, hypocrites ! because ye build, =9 

And deck the tombs of those your fathers killed — 

Prophets and righteous men — and falsely say, 3° 

Ye would have been less bloody than were they. 31 

Fill up the measure of your fathers, see 32 

Ye match their murderous malignity ! 

Serpents and vipers, venomous and fell, 33 

How shall ye 'scape the punishment of hell ! 

"Lo, I, in love and mercy, send to you 34 

Prophets and teachers to instruct and woo : 
Of them, some ye will kill and crucify ; 
Others will scourge, afflict, and cause to fly. 
That so the crowning guilt may shame your head 35 
Of all the righteous blood that e'er was shed. 
This generation, lo, in blood and tears, 36 

Shall reap the justice of four thousand years. 

" O hadst thou been inclined, Jerusalem ! 37 

Who kill'st the prophets, and who stonest them 
Who unto thee are sent, how oft I then 
Thy children would have gathered, as a hen 



VISION OF THE FATE OF JERUSALEM. 253 



Gathers her chickens 'neath her sheltering wings, ^xiif- 
But ye would not, and scorned My threatenings ! 
Behold the time is coming and makes haste, 38 

When shall your house, abandoned and laid waste, 
Be turned into a desert, and its proud 
Upturned foundations, like a field be ploughed. 
Henceforth, ye shall not see Me, till ye say, 39 

The Lord is Lord, we own his righteous sway." 

These woes Truth thundered into guilty ears. 
Then, at the close. Love melted into tears. 
He spake for the last time. How like a knell. 
In the doomed Temple, sounded His farewell. 
Events to come, so clearly were foreseen, 
They seemed as if they had already been. 
Or were transpiring now before His eyes. 
He saw the ruin in dread vision rise — 
Each several stone, reel in the tottering wall 
Of house and temple, making haste to fall ; 
Saw on the goodliest, a stain of guilt. 
The blood of innocence aforetime spilt. 
And therefore fated, branded and accursed. 
With leanings towards perdition from the first. 
With all beholding eyes, the wisdom saw 



254 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

And the unchallenged justice of the law, 
Whereby each generation must and should 
Be heirs of previous evil and of good — 
Each sin committed, since the world began, 
Its curse entailing on the race of man — 
The error sown a thousand years ago, 
Yielding fresh harvests of unending woe. 

The causes of a nation's ruin may 
Have criminal beginnings far away : 
But oh ! the mounting horror of the time, 
When topples down the edifice of crime ! 
If founded on the weakness of a lie, 
Unstable were the pillars of the sky. 

Weary He sat — just ready to withdraw — 
Over against the Treasury, and saw 
Rich men cast in their gifts. Among the rest ^^ 

Came a poor widow, who threw in the chest 
Two mites which make a farthing. Jesus saith 43 
To His disciples : " This poor widow hath 
Cast more into the Treasury, than such 
As of their superfluity gave much." ^* 

Certain Greek proselytes, as He passed through 1°^^^ 
The Outer Court, desired an interview. ''^ 



Mark 
xii. 41 



GREEK PROSELYTES. 255 

With thoughts of His near death preoccupied, 1-°]'^^ 

He said, " The hour, when must be glorified 

The Son of Man, is come. Till seed is thrown "^ 

Into the ground and dies, it bides alone ; 

But, dying, bears much fruit. So when I die, 

I, like the corn, My life will multiply. 

Who loves his selfish life and keeps it sole, ^s 

Shall rot unsown, and perish as a whole. 

Who holds his temporal life, for my sake, cheap, 

He unto life eternal shall it keep. 

Would a man serve Me, let him follow Me, ^^ 

And where I am there shall My servant be. 

" My soul is troubled now. What shall I say? ^7 
' O Father, save me from this hour ? But, nay ! 
On purpose, for this dreadful hour I came : 
Even so. Father glorify Thy name ! ' " ''^ 

A Voice from heaven said, " Full oft have I 
It glorified, and it will glorify 

Again." Of people standing by, who heard, ^9 

Some said, " It thundered." Others there averred, 
"An angel spake to Him." "This word from Heaven3° 
Was not," He said, " for Mine but your sakes given. 
Now shall the world be judged. I will cast out 31 
The Prince of Evil, and his armies rout ; 



256 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

The reign of Love I will inaugurate ^^^^ 

Upon the ruins of the throne of Hate. 

And I, if I be lifted up, will draw, 32 

By the magnetic force of love and law, 

All men to Me — the simple and the sage. 

Throughout the earth, and to the latest age." 

Matt. xxiv. 1-51 ; xxv. 1-46; Mark xiii. 1-37; Luke xxi. 5-36. 

He now the Temple left for the last time ; ^j^''^ 

Crossed the brook Kedron, and began to climb 
The Mount of Olives. The disciples' gaze 
Directed backwards, they, struck with amaze, 
Cried out : " See, Master, what great stones are here ! 
What splendid buildings, rising tier 'bove tier ! 
See those nine gates, all overlaid with gold 
And silver, and that other one, behold, 
Of solid rich Corinthian brass ! Note 
Those blocks of marble, shaped in times remote, 
Twice sixteen cubits * long, ten cubits high ! 
Observe how rich and gorgeous to the eye 
The giant clusters of that golden vine. 
That round the golden doors and door-posts twine ! 
How beautiful, how holy to the sight, 
The topmost Naos f glittering and white — 

* Josephus, Be Bell.Jud.^ V., 5. t The Sanctuary or Temple proper. 



DESTRUCTION OF THE CITY AND TEMPLE. 257 



?:iark 



Xlll. 



Seen from this height, beneath the sunset glow, 
How Uke a glorious mountain crowned with snow ! " 

And Jesus said : " As for these things ye see, - 

The day will come, in which there shall not be. 
From the foundation to the topmost stone, 
One left upon another not o'erth^own."* 

The summit reached, He sat upon the height— 3 
Temple and City lay right opposite. 
All that had passed since morn to memory rose 
To solemnize the day's approaching close. 
Peter and James and John and Andrew came — 
Part of the Twelve — and speaking in their name, 
Besought, that He would tell them privately, 
When this would happen ; what the sign would be + 
Of His next Coming ; and, moreo'er, presage 
The end and consummation of the age. 

* Gibbon, in the seventy-first chapter of his History of the Decline and Fall of the 
Roman Empire, speaks of the Coliseum as " an edifice, which, had it been left to time 
and nature, might have claimed an eternal duration." He quotes the proverbial say- 
ing (reported by the venerable Bede as current in his time — he dying in the year 735): 
'"As long as the Coliseum stands, Rome shall stand ; when the Coliseum falls, Rome 
will fall ; when Rome falls, will fall the world." It is highly probable, that the disci- 
ples had entertained a like view of the Temple ; and when the Master predicted its 
ruin and the destruction of Jerusalem, they associated therewith a simultaneous de- 
struction of the world. Of this association there are intimations in Matthew ; but in 
Mark and Luke we have a simple reference to the destruction of the Temple and the 
City ; and the inquiry addressed to the. Lord has sole reference to the time when this 

17 



258 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

And Jesus answering began to say : ^jf" ^ 

" Beware, lest any man lead you astray. 

Many impostors will assume my name, ^ 

Saying, ' I am the Christ,' and, by that claim, 

Deceiving many. When on every side. 

Ye hear of wars, be ye not terrified, ^ 

For these must be, but not yet is the end : 

should take place. A prurient and mistaken curiosity led them on this and other oc- 
casions to ask about things which did not concern them. 

Not satisfied with the information that the destruction would take place, they must 
know the exact time. Christ has been understood as saying that He did not know 
Himself. But strictly taken, this would seem to be an impossible sense. While ac- 
cepting His two-fold nature, divine and human, we do not believe in such a dichot- 
omy as would rob Him of a plenary divine consciousness and knowledge of all 
things. His ignorance, if ignorance it could be called, would be at best only a quasi 
ignorance, official or functional, not a real one. For Him to disclose matters which 
men had no right to know, and which the Father chose to keep in His own power — 
such as precise times and seasons — were impossible. If He knew them, it was not for 
us He knew them. He did not know them as the ordained Organ of Revelation. It 
maybe laid down as a universal truth, that Revelation limits its disclosures to things 
needful for us to know. It comports not with its dignity to minister to an idle curi- 
osity. Prophecy is something more and something better than a vulgar fortune-tell- 
ing. Life is not fatalistic, but moral and free. Well-being is contingent on well- 
doing. The duty and need of watchfulness are based on the uncertainties of the 
future. Such a prediction of future events, therefore, as should leave no doubt in 
regard to the time and manner of their happening, would be fatal to moral freedom. 

By keeping steadily in mind the principles which govern in all such cases, not for- 
getting the limitation adverted to, which confines all disclosures to some gracious 
purpose of utility, we cannot fail to be helped in the right interpretation of these 
"prophecies of the Mount." Now, the destruction of Jerusalem did concern them 
who asked, and Christ therefore was tolerant toward their inquiry, so far as to give 
them information in regard to the signs which should precede and usher it in, in order 
that they might make provision for their safety. Even though we admit that their 
question had a larger scope. Our Lord in His reply would be sure, ignoring what was 
irrelevant or improper, to communicate only what was important for them to know ; 
and Mark and Luke, as before intimated, in omitting all reference to everything else, 
would seem to have regarded all that was special in the prophecy as having relation 



DESTRUCTION OF THE CITY AND TEMPLE. 



259 



Nation shall rise 'gainst nation and contend ; ^v.'j 

Kingdom 'gainst kingdom. Scarcity of bread, 
Plagues following, great earthquakes, sights of dread, 
And signs in heaven, mark but th' initial throes* ^ 
And warning birthpangs of forthcoming woes. 
Then they '11 afflict you, and your life will take. 9 

All nations will you hate for My name's sake. 
Many will stumble, and will fall away 
And hate will one another and betray. 

to the destruction of Jerusalem. That was a particular event, which they of that gen- 
eration might live to see. Some, not all. If in that event, there was a solemn and 
portentous Coming of the Son of Man affecting a whole people and nation ; there were 
other Comings, He would have them know, awful and imminent, in the case of every 
individual. The knife of judgment would cut between those standing nearest to each 
other — one would be taken and the other left. There would seem to be no need of 
limiting the number of His Comings. In one sense they are infinite. He is present in 
every event. To me and to all men as individuals, it may be said, however, that there 
are two special comings. First, in the proclamation of the Word, and, second, in 
death, when account must be rendered of its reception. Here, if we mistake not, is 
the key to that recurring refrain, Watch ! 
. It would lessen the difficulties of interpretation immensely could we be content to 
be simple and not subtle. Surely, Christ's mission in the world was not and is not to 
destroy but save. His relation to the race has ever been that of a Saviour. It was so 
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem even amid the culminating horrors of the siege. For 
aught we know. He may have been so to some in fact down to the very last hour. In 
what respect in principle was His coming to destroy Jerusalem different from His 
coming to destroy anything else that was rotten, even a tree ? He is, to be sure, the 
Author of self-executing laws. It is true, that fire will burn. Let him, therefore, who 
would not be burned avoid the fire. The calamities which befell the Jews were se- 
quent as the links of a chain ; and were essentially self-inflicted and inevitable. Divine 
Pity wept over them in prospect, and interposed to shorten not prolong them. Sure 
am I, that let there be ten thousand hells, they are all of the sinner's own kindling. 
God is love. 

* The Greek word rendered "sorrows" in the Received Version, means primarily and 
specifically " the pangs or throes of labor." 



26o THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Many false prophets numbers will entice. x^iv"ir 

Because of prevalent lawlessness and vice, '^ 

The love of many will wax cold. But he, ^3 

Who to the end continues, saved shall be. 

The Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached '+ 

Among all nations,* witnessing to each. 

And then shall come the end I have foretold. 

" When ye then shall Jerusalem behold "s 

Compassed with armies, ye may understand 
Its speedy desolation is at hand. 

Let them, who in Judea then shall be, '^ 

To the Perean mountainsf straightway flee. 
Let him, that 's on the housetop, not descend '^ 

To take aught from the house, but his way wend, 
From roof to roof to the town wall, with speed, 
And thus escape, so urgent is the need. 
Neither let him, that 's in the field, turn back '^ 

To take his clothes, for foes are on his track. 
Alas, for those, who in those days shall be ^9 

With child, or who give suck, and cannot flee ! 

* More properly " all the Gentiles." So in verse 9, meaning the Gentiles generally. 
The " end," in the next line, refers, it is thought, to the end of the Jewish polity. 

t It is stated on the authority of Eusebius, that, warned by this prophecy, the Chris- 
tians fled from the city, some to Pella beyond the Jordan, and others to Mount Le- 
banon, and that not a single one perished in the siege. 



NEED OF IMMEDIATE FLIGHT. 261 



Matt. 
xxiv. 20 



Pray your escape be not in winter, lest 
Cold storms and swollen streams your flight arrest. 
Nor on the Sabbath day, lest some through fear 
Delay immediate flight on grounds sincere. 

"Then shall be tribulation, greater than " 

Was ever witnessed since the world began — 
Supreme, unequalled horrors will attend 
The City's siege, catastrophe and end ; 
So that, did mercy not curtail the date, " 

No one would scarce survive the general fate. 

"Should, in this season of distress and fear, =3 

One say, * Behold, the Christ is here, or here,' 
Believe it not. For there shall then arise 
False Christs, and Prophets in pretentious guise, ^■i 
With signs and wonders fitted to mislead. 
Remember, I have warned you, so take heed. ^5 

If they proclaim, ' He 's in the desert,' be =^ 

Ye not deluded, go not forth to see. 
Or, ' He 's within shut doors,' believe it not — 
For, not unknown nor limited to one spot, 
Shall be the Coming of the Son of Man ; 
But sudden, swift — the instant lightning* can '^^ 

♦Calvin interprets this as referring to the preaching of the Gospel by the Apostles. 
Whatever other fulfilments it may have, it has inevitably one at death — when there is 
an instantaneous transition and revelation to all mankind. 



262 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Not equal it that flames across the sky — xx1v"— 

A dazzling presence to the opened eye, 
Where is the carcass, there the eagles are : 
When time is ripe, fulfilments are not far. 

[They do not err, that make the firmament 
The theatre of each divine event ; 
And see the Godhead, on that heavenly stage 
Great epochs punctuate, or end the age ; 
Speak of His goings forth in glorious might. 
Although invisible to natural sight.] 

" Immediately following those days '"^ 

Of tribulation, and supreme amaze, 
The sun and moon shall darkened* be, and all 

* Or as we would express it in occidental speech, there will follow days of darkness 
to individuals, and the whole Jewish people, unrelieved by a single ray of light from 
any quarter. 

" O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon. 
Irrevocably dark, total eclipse 
Without all hope of day ! " 

Their glory will have departed, and their polity have come to an end. They will be 
carried away captive, and scattered among the Gentiles ; and Jerusalem their pride 
and boast will be trodden down by profaning feet. Their ruin will be complete and 
overwhelming. In the conceptions of oriental poetry, this quenching of the light of 
the soul in the human microcosm ; this national wreck, utter and hopeless, are equiv- 
alent to the fall and blotting out of the great luminaries of the physical universe— the 
macrocosm. The same or similar imagery is employed in the foretelling of the de- 
struction of Babylon (Isaiah xiii. lo) ; also of Tyre (Isaiah xxiv. 23) ; again in describ- 
ing the slaughter of Bozrah and Idumea (Isaieih xxxiv. 4). 



END OF THE JEWISH POLITY. 263 



The constellations, like ripe fruit, shall fall 

From out the shaken heavens — void to the eye 

The stellar glories of the Jewish sky. 

Then those, who to the sword fall not a prey. 

Into all nations shall be led away 

Captive ; and their demolished buried town, 

Jerusalem, shall thence be trodden down. 

Continuously, by hated Gentile feet. 

Until the time appointed be complete, 

" Lo, everywhere upon the earth shall be 
Distress of nations'"'' and perplexity — 
Seas and waves roaring — a heart-sickening dread 
Of something, yet more terrible, ahead. 
Then shall, o'er the horizon shining clear, 
The signals of the Son of Man appear. 
Many, convinced of sin and penitent,t 



Matt. 

XXIV. — 



Luke 
\\i. 24 



Matt, 
-xxiv. 30 



* The perplexity, distress and misery of the time, so far as the Roman Empire is 
concerned, are powerfully portrayed by Tacitus in the commencement of his History. 
He speaks of " four emperors murdered ; three civil wars, many foreig^n, the greater 
number mixed ; both Gauls threatening a revolt ; Italy afflicted with new slaughters, 
repeated ; cities (Pompeii and Herculaneum) buried and swallowed up ; Rome partly 
laid in ashes, her most venerable temples consumed, the Capitol itself fired by the 
hands of citizens; the sea filled with exiles," etc. He relates how " in Rome rank and 
riches and virtue were certain death ; how nothing was sacred, and nothing safe." 
His description of the prevailing corruption answers to that found in the first chapter 
of the Epistle of Paul to the Romans. 

t It is something, he trusts, akin to Christian instinct which leads the writer to re- 
ject the current interpretation, which makes the viournzng-here spoken of, other than 



264 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Shall smite their breasts and lift a loud lament, ^idv"- 

Till, on the- darkness of their night of grief, 

At once shall break the morning of belief. 

And they shall see Him with enraptured eyes 

In mighty pomp descending from the skies. 

But terrible the aspect of that face 

To those who mourn rejection of His grace. 

He shall send forth His messengers to sound 31 

The Gospel trump wherever man is found ; 

And they shall gather from all lands and climes 

Th' elect of God down to the latest times. 

'' Behold the fig tree, when the leaves appear, 32 
Ye know the Summer certainly is near — 
So, when ye see these things, then understand 
Fulfillment of My word is close at hand. 
This generation shall not pass away, 34 

Till all shall happen even as I say. 
But of that day the knowledge is concealed, 36 

The Father's secret, not to be revealed 
Ev'n by the Son— sole channel of His thought. 
The Speaking Word that tells but what He ought. 

repentance. Mourning is the first sign of grace ; and, surely, there is nothing better 
adapted to awaken it than the believing vision of the Son of Man coming in the glory 
of His love and goodness to seek and save that which is lost. 



THE DUTY OF WATCHING. 265 

" Think it not strange, I frame ambiguous speech ; 
Take heed ! is the great lesson I would teach, x^v"- 
Concerning things that to the siege pertain, 
'T is needful that I speak in language plain. 
But of My Future Coming, 't were not fit. 
That ye should know the day and hour of it. 
Enough to know, it is not far away ; 
That it may be to-morrow, or to-day. 
What if at death, the vision shall be given 
Of My Great Coming in the clouds of heaven ? 
So that ye watch, 't is of small consequence, 
If it be now, or twenty centuries hence. 
One thing is sure, whenever it shall be, 35 

This generation shall be there to see. 

" Take heed, lest that your hearts o'erburdened be 
With sordid cares and sensuality, ^"^^^^ 

And that day come, when you are not aware — 
For it shall come on all men as a snare. 35 

Watch ye and pray therefore ! Like as a man, x^,^""]"^ 
Going abroad, drew out at length a plan, 
By which each servant had his task assigned. 
Putting in charge, of those he left behind, 
His house, he told the keeper of the gate 



266 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

To watch for his return, and patient wait. 
Watch, therefore, seeing ye all knowledge lack, 
When will the Master of the house come back— 
At evening, midnight, crowing of the cock, 
Or morning — lest He, unexpected, knock 
And find you sleeping. What to you I say, 
I say to all. Watch evermore, and pray ! 



Mark 
xiii. — 



Matt. 
x.xiv. 4-} 



" Ye know, that had the householder foreseen, 
What time the coming of the thief had been. 
He would have watched, and with all patience too, 
And not allowed his house to be broke through. 
Who is that faithful and wise servant, whom ■♦s 

His Master has appointed in his room. 
While absent, o'er his household to preside. 
And in due season needful food provide ? 
Happy that servant, whom his lord shall find ^6 

Doing, at his return, the work assigned ! 
He, verily, will set him o'er the whole 47 

Of his estate, and give him full control. 
But if that servant in his heart shall say : ^s 

' My absent lord his coming doth delay,' 
And shall begin outrageously to beat 49 

And vex his fellow-servants, and shall eat 



PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 267 

And drink moreo'er with drunkards, suddenly, xxlv!- 
His lord shall come — at, too, an hour when he 50 

Expects him not — and shall, with dreadful lash 
Asunder cut* his flesh and deeply gash, s' 

And him consign to dungeon glooms beneath. 
Where there are weeping eyes and gnashing teeth. 

" My Kingdom shall be likened in the end -''-''^- "^ 

Unto ten virgins, sent forth to attend 
The coming bridegroom on his lighted road, 
With song and music to the bride's abode. 
Taking their lamps, they went forth him to rheet 
From the bride's house into the darkened street, 
But waited, meanwhile, in some dwelling near, 
Till the delayed procession should appear. 
And five were wise, providing against need : ^ 

And five were foolish, without thought or heed. 
Now while the bridegroom tarried, they all slept. = 
But, lest their lamps should fail, the wise oil kept ■» 
In flasks, outside their lamps, a full supply. 
Not so the foolish ones should theirs run dry. 3 

*" Shall dichotoviize or cut in two." The meaning here cannot be the severing of the 
body either with a sword or saw (which was one mode of putting to death sometimes 
practiced) because he is spoken of as surviving the punishment. It is probable, there- 
fore, that It IS a hyperbolical expression for scourgmg. 



268 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

A cry at midnight rose with noise of feet : ^^^"^ 

' Behold, the bridegroom ! Him come forth to meet !' 

Then they all rose and trimm'd their lamps. Dismay 'd, 

The foolish to the wise petition made : ^ 

' Give of your oil, our lamps are going out.' 

' Not so,' they said, ' we have not, beyond doubt, ^ 

Enough for both. Go ye to those who sell 

And buy !' While they were going, it befell '° 

The bridegroom came ; and those, who ready were 

Went in where was the marriage to occur. 

And straight the door was shut. And, afterward, " 

The other virgins came, saying, * Lord ! Lord ! 

Open to us.' But he replied, ' Too late — 

I know you not. I '11 not unclose the gate.' 

Watch without ceasing ! Ready be alway ! ^3 

For ye know not the hour, nor know the day. 

" When in that glory comes the Son of Man, 31 
Had with the Father ere the world began. 
And all the angels with Him, He shall then 
Sit on His throne of glory, judging men. 
All nations* shall before Him gathered be, 32 

=*■ Olhausen understands by the expression, "all nations," not all mankind, but all 
men with the exception of true believers, f/tai is, all ti7ibelieve7-s. True believers he 
claims, do not come into judgment at all ; but, at the resurrection of the just, enter 
at once into joy. In the present Parable, if parable it may be called, they constitute 
Christ's angelic retinue, or at least a part of it, and are referred to by Him as "My 



THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS. 269 



Matt. 

XXV. — 



The good and bad alike promiscuously ; 
And He between them shall discriminate, 
And shall one from the other separate — 
As doth the shepherd from his sheep divide 

brethren." Stier, who adopts substantially the same view, censures the old interpre- 
tation, which assumes that the General Judgment is intended, as erroneous and false. 
It may be that the old interpretation needs revision, but it is impossible to accept that 
as the true one — which makes a few acts of hospitable kindness done to the Christian 
brotherhood, disjoined from repentance and faith, as sufficient for salvation— without 
subverting the whole scheme of Christian doctrine. It would be far easier to believe 
as some do, that, while it is admitted, the words "all nations," or as the Revised 
Version gives it, " all the nations," is the Jewish equivalent for " all the Gen- 
tiles," Our Lord intended under this judicial form or similitude to convey the 
solemn warning, that, according to the reception given to His Gospel about to be 
preached in all the world, and the treatment of His messengers (Himself being identi- 
fied with it and them) will men's fates be determined. It is inevitable that wherever 
Christ is preached men should take sides for or against Him. They pass to His right 
hand or His left. The division that takes place is a voluntary one, and according to 
character. It pertains to this life as much as to the next. All this is in perfect corres- 
pondence with His teachings elsewhere. At the first sending out of the Twelve, He 
said, "He that receiveth you receiveth Me, etc. * * * He that is not for Me is against 
Me. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold 
water only in the name of a disciple, he shall in no wise lose his reward." And at 
His final sending out. He said, " Go, preach : whosoever believeth shall be saved, and 
whosoever believeth not shall be condemned." It would seem to matter little, whether 
this adjudication takes place, with the outward pomp and circumstances of a visible 
Coming at the End of the World, or invisibly and now. 

The motive of the above commentators, in their strange exposition, does not justify 
it. It springs no doubt from a desire to find some direct, explicit assurance that the 
virtuous heathen, who have never heard the Gospel, will nevertheless be saved. While 
no man has the right to say that they will not be, still it is true, that Scripture is silent 
upon that point. So in regard to the salvation of children dying in infancy, it is no- 
where said in so many words that they will be saved, but we take it for granted that 
they will be. "Are there few that be saved ?" is another example of that inquisitivencss 
which is unwilling to trust God any farther than He has given His word. " Will not 
the Judge of all the earth do right ?" Are we more righteous than He, or more loving ? 
To insist upon answers to questions merely speculative is impertinent and unseemly. 

The mediaeval view (which is likewise the prevailing modern one) was never more 
vividly realized than in the famous Judgment Hymn— Vies Iree — of which the writer 
appends a Translation, one of the Thirteen which he published some years ago. 



270 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



The goats — to set the sheep on His right side, ^v!^^. 
The goats set on His left. Then shall the King, 34 
Transporting words of glorious welcoming, 
Smiling to them on His right hand address : 
* Ye blessed of My Father, come, possess 
The kingdom destined, all the ages through, 
From the foundation of the world, for you. 
For I was hungry and ye gave Me meat; 35 

Thirsty and gave Me drink ; lay in the street, 
A stranger, and, in kindness and good will, 
Received Me ; naked, and ye clothed Me ; ill, 36 

In prison, and made haste to visit Me.' 
Then shall the righteous say : ' When, Lord, saw we 37 
Thee hungry and Thee fed ? With thirst opprest. 
And gave Thee drink ? A stranger, lodged thee ? 
Brest 38 

Thee, naked ? Or, sick, and Thee went to see ? 39 
Shut up in prison, and did visit Thee ?' 
The King shall answer from His Judgment Seat, ^° 
With voice of love melodious and sweet : 
' For that ye did it to the meanest one 
Of these. My brethren, it to Me was done.' 
Then He will say to those who trembling stand, 41 
The guilty multitude on His left hand. 



SEPARATION OF THE JUST AND UNJUST. 271 

"' Depart, ye cursed, and abide the ire x^v"- 

Of the eternal, all-consuming fire ! 

For I was hungry, and ye would not feed ; 42 

Was parched with thirst, and ye despised My need ; 

A stranger, and against Me shut the door ; 43 

Was naked, and gave nothing of your store ; 

111, and in prison, and came not to Me.' 

Then they will answer : ' When, Lord, saw we Thee 44 

Hungry, athirst, a stranger, naked, ill. 

In prison, and were wanting in good will ?' 

Then He shall answer them with brow severe : 4s 

' Since to the least of these, My brethren, here, 

Ye did it not, ye did it not to Me — 

Deaf to the pleading voice of charity.' 

" These shall depart, to bide the lopping knife* 46 
Of lasting sev'rance from the Tree of Life ; 

*The lexical meanings of the Greek Ko7.dcig^kolasis, rendered, "punishment," 
are a pruning-, or loppi)ig off, applied to trees etc. Hence a c/iecking, chas- 
tisement, correction, punishment. It answers to the Latin, Castigatio (whence our 
English word, castigation) whose primary meaning, like the Greek word, is a 
pruning, then chastisement, correction, punishment. Nearly all translators and 
expositors agree in assigning to it the meaning of punishment — a few only construinef 
it in its primary sense of a " lopping off." Taking it even in this sense, it is a word of 
fearful import, for it could not mean less than an eternal separation and alienation 
from the life of God, like a branch severed from the vine and condemned to the 
flames. This has always appeared to the writer to be one of the strongest texts in the 
whole Bible in support of the doctrine of eternal punishment ; and he frankly admits, 
that he would like above all things, to find justification for a different rendering and 
a milder exegesis than the usual one. 



2/2 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



While that the righteous, branches of a Tree 
Whose roots strike deep into eternity. 
Shall flourish, fixed in that immortal sod, 
Full of the flowing sap and life of God." 



Matt. 

XXV. ^ 



DIES IR^. — Translation. 

That Day ! that awful Day ! the Last ! 
Result and sum of all the Past : 
Great necessary Day of Doom, 
When wrecking fires shall all consume ! 

What dreadful shrieks the air shall rend, 
When all shall see the Judge descend, 
And hear th' Archangel's echoing shout 
From heavenly spaces ringing out ! 

The Trump of God, with quickening breath, 
Shall pierce the silent realms of death ; 
And sound the summons in each ear, 
Arise ! thy Maker calls : Appear ! 

From east to west, from south to north. 
The earth shall travail and bring forth — 
As desert's sands, and ocean's waves. 
Shall be the sum of empty graves. 



DIES IR/E.— TRANSLATION. 273 

Th' unchanging Record of the Past 
Shall then be read from first to last, 
And, out of things therein contained, 
Shall all be judged, and fates ordained. 

No lying tongue, that truth distorts, 
Shall witness in that Court of Courts : 
Each secret thing shall be revealed. 
And every righteous sentence sealed. 

Ah ! who can stand when He appears? 
Confront the guilt of sinful years ? 
What hope for me, a wretch depraved. 
When scarce the righteous man is saved ? 

Dread Monarch of the Earth and Heaven ! 
For that salvation 's great, 't is given ; 
And, since the boon is wholly free, 
O Fount of Pity, save Thou me ! 

Remember, Jesus, how my case 
Once moved Thy pity and Thy grace, 
And brought Thee down on earth to stay ; 
O lose me not then on that Dav ! 



274 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

I seek Thee, who didst seek me first, 
Weary and hungry and athirst. 
Didst pay my ransom on the tree — 
Let not such labor frustrate be ! 

Just Judge of vengeance in the end ! 
Now in the accepted time befriend : 
My sins, O graciously remit. 
Ere Thou judicially shalt sit ! 

Low at Thy feet I groaning lie : 
With blushing cheek, and weeping eye, 
And stammering lips, I urge the prayer, 
O spare me, God of mercy, spare ! 

When Mary Thy forgiveness sought, 
Wept, but articulated naught. 
Thou didst forgive ; didst hear the brief 
Petition of the dying thief. 

On grace thus great my hope is built. 

That Thou wilt cancel too my guilt ; 

That, though my prayers are worthless breath, 

Thou wilt deliver me from death. 



DIES IR.E.— TRANSLATION. 275 

When Thy dividing rod of might 
Appointeth stations opposite, 
Among Thy sheep grant me to stand, 
Far from the goats, at Thy right hand. 

And when despair shall seize each heart, 
That hears the dreadful sound, ' Depart !' 
Be mine, the heavenly lot of some. 
To hear that word of welcome, ' Come ! 

I come to Thee with trembling trust, 
And lay my forehead in the dust : 
In my last hour do Thou befriend, 
And not forsake me in m}- end. 



>76 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



XXL 

THE LAST SUPPER.— FAREWELL WORDS. 

Matt. xxvi. 1-29 ; Mark xiv. 1-25 ; Luke xxii. 1-20; John xii. 2 — xiii. 35. 



I 



N deepest silence the disciples heard, 

And treasured in their hearts each solemn word 

" After two days the Feast is," Jesus said 
Of the Passover and Unleavened Bread, 
What time the Son of Man, betrayed and tried, 
Will be condemned to death and crucified." 

E'en then, conspiring and consulting sat 
Chief priests and scribes and elders, gathered at 
The house of Caiaphas, how Him to take 
By craft, and kill. They, fearing an outbreak 
Among the people, said, it were not best 
During the Feast, Him openly t' arrest. 

Being in Bethany, at the abode 
Of Simon, long a leper, they bestowed 
A loyal welcome, and a supper made. 



Matt, 
xxvi. 2 



John 
xii. 2 



MARY'S PERPETUAL MEMORIAL. 277 

In boundless gratitude for healing aid. ^■"^'!_ 

And Martha served ; and Lazarus was there ; 

And Mary, anxious to perform her share, 3 

Taking a pound of spikenard, rare and sweet, 

She poured it out upon His head and feet. 

Then wiped them with her hair— the rich perfume 

Spread through the house, pervading every room. 

Some there, who knew how much the ointment cost,* * 

Thought it a pity so much should be lost ; 

And Judas, most of all, made virtuous haste 

To speak his disapproval of the waste : 

" Why vainly throw away what would procure s 

Three hundred pence to feed the starving poor?" 

This said he, caring not for them a whit, ^ 

But as he bore the purse could steal from it 

Then Jesus said : " Let her alone ! for she 7 

Has wrought a good, and pious work on Me : 

Behold, the poor ye have with you alway, ^ 

But Me not alway ! She forestalls the day xxl^"i2 

Of My embalmmenf for My burial. 

Now just at hand. In all the world where shall '3 

Be preached My Gospel, this shall, I aver. 

Be told for a memorial of her." 

♦The probable cost has been estimated as high as three hundred dollars, taking into 
account the difference in the value of silver now and then — actual value about fifty. 



278 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Then Judas — he, surncmed Iscariot — x^vLJ^ 

Went forthwith to the chief priests, saying, " What 's 
Will ye me give, if I will Him betray?" 
They bargained thirty shekels* him to pay. 
Taking the silver, with despatch malign, ^^ 

He sought to execute his fell design. 

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, '^ 

When must the Paschal victim's blood be shed. 
Came His disciples to Him, saying, " Where 
Wilt Thou that we for Thee the meal prepare 
To eat the Passover ?" He said to John 
And Peter, " Go ye into the City, one ^^ 

Bearing a jar of water, will meet you ; 
Him follow ; where he enters enter too. 
And to the householder in My name say : xxii!"?! 

' Where is the guest-chamber, where the Master may 
With His disciples the Passover eat ?' 
And he will show you, furnished and complete, '^ 

A spacious upper room." All, as He said 
They found, and the Passover ready made. '3 

Evening now come, which was He knew His last,'^ 

* Equal to eighteen dollars, the legal value of a slave if killed by a beast. See 
Zech. xi. 12. 



THE PASSOVER MEAL. 279 

He sat down with the Twelve to the repast, ^f^^^^ 

And said : " Much have I longed to eat with you '^ 

This Passover before I suffer. True 

It is, that I will eat it ne'er again, ^^ 

Till in God's Kingdom I its ends attain, 

And all is finished." He took liquid food, '^ 

Consisting of the crushed grapes' living blood 

Pressed in the cup, and, giving thanks, said, " Take, 

And of it 'mong yourselves division make !" 

Strife about seats at table previously, ^+ 

Renewed debate, which one should greatest be. 
Though they had bathed, their walk since through 

the streets. 
Had, unavoidably, defiled their feet. ^ml'^L 

Being too proud, 't would seem, to have it known 
They 'd stooped to wash their Master's or their own. 
In disregard of decency, they crouch, 
And soil with dirty feet their Saviour's couch. 
But He, the sinner's Advocate and Friend, ' 

Loving His own, still loved them to the end. 
And though He knew Himself omnipotent, ^ 

That He came forth from God and to God went, 
He rose from supper, stripping,* left the board, + 

* The "stripping" would relate to the upper garments, probably the mantle only. 



28o THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

And, with a towel, girt Himself, and poured ^^hl" 

Water into a basin, and began 

To wash the feet of His disciples, man 

By man ; then, afterwards, to wipe them dry 

With the same towel which He was girded by 

Coming to Peter he objection made : '' 

" Lord ! washest Thou my feet?" The Master said: 

" What I am doing thou dost know not now, ? 

But thou shaft know hereafter." He said : " Thou 

Shalt never wash my feet." " I must wash thee, ^ 

For, otherwise, thou hast no part with Me." 

And Simon Peter answering then said : 9 

" Lord ! not my feet only, but hands and head." 

" He that is bathed has need to do no more '° 

Than wash his feet, for then he 's clean all o'er.- 

And ye are clean, but not all." This He said. 

Knowing by whom Himself would be betrayed. " 

So after He had washed their feet, and ta'en '- 

His garments, and at table lay again, 

He said : " Know ye what I have done to you ? 

Ye call Me Lord and Master, and speak true, '3 

For so 1 am. If I do not disdain ^'^ 

To wash your feet, to leave example plain, 's 

Ye ought not, when occasion shall arise. 



WASHES THE DISCIPLES' FEET. 281 

Refuse to wash each other's feet, likewise. Jm'~ 

The slave s not greater than his master, nor '^ 

Is the apostle or ambassador 

Greater than he who sends him. Happy you, '7 

Who know these things, provided ye them do. 

" I speak not of you all : I know whom I ^^ 

Have chosen, and him, who will verify 
That Scripture, ' He that eateth bread with me, 
His heel hath lifted 'gainst me treacherously.' 
I tell you of this treachery before, '9 

That ye, unstaggered, may believe the more." 
He sadly spake again : " In truth I say, =^° 

The traitor 's present, that shall Me betray. '" 

The Son of Man goes as of Him 't was said. 
But woe to him by whom He is betrayed." 
They, struck with horror, on each other gaze. 
And one by one cry out in wild amaze : 
" Lord is it I ?" And Peter beckoned John, ^3 

Leaning his Master's loving bosom on, 
To ask, " Who is it Lord ?" And He said, " See ^4 
To whom I give this morsel dipped, 't is he." ^^ 

And having dipped the morsel. He it passed ^^ 

To Judas, who had faltered out at last. 



282 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

^' Lord is it I ?" To which He answered, " Yea ! ^^I^""^^ 
So what thou doest, do without delay." 
John understood and Peter, all beside ^^ 

Thought He had bid him for the feast provide. ^9 

After the morsel had to him been given, ^^ 

Satan him entered, and, by fury driven, 
He instantly went out, and it was night — 
The Paschal moon had risen full and bright. 
When he was gone — though Jesus knew full well, 3^ 
[t was to consummate his purpose fell — 
He said, forestalling triumph — though foreseen 
Th' unutterable agonies that lay between — 
'' The Son of Man 's now glorified and glad 
And God is glorified in Him. Ye 're sad 
With sad forebodings. Little children, I 33 

A little while am with you. By and by, 
Ye 11 seek Me and not find Me. Where I go 
Ye cannot follow while ye live below. 
I give the breadth of My commandment new, 34 

' Ye one another love as I 've loved you ' — 
To all men your discipleship ye prove, 35 

By mutual helpfulness and mutual love." 

And Peter said : " Lord, whither goest Thou ?" 36 
" Whither I go, ye cannot follow now," 



PROTESTINGS OF PETER AT SUPPER. 283 

(Was still the Lord's ambiguous reply) xifi*^- 

" But thou shalt follow afterwards." " But Avhy 37 

Cannot I follow now ? I will for Thee 

Lay down my life." Then Jesus said : " All ye ^^^"31 

Shall stumbled be this night because of Me. 

For 't is written, ' The Shepherd 1 will smite, 

And all the sheep will safety seek in flight.' 

But when I 'm risen, I will go before 32 

You into Galilee." Then spake once more 33 

Peter : " Though all disown, yet will not I." 

" Before-cock crowing thou 'It Me thrice deny. 34 

Ah ! Simon, Simon, Satan would thee gain, ^^"^"^ 

And toss and sift thee, as men winnow grain. 

But I have prayed for thee, and answer got, 

That though thou fall, yet shall thy faith fail not. 

And when thou art converted, made more meek, 

Strengthen thy brethren, who like thee are weak.' 

With greater vehemence did he protest, xxvi. 35 

He would not Him deny ; so all the rest. 



X.Xll. 



Matt. 



Then taking bread, and giving thanks. He brake 
And gave to His disciples, saying, " Take, 
Eat, this My body is, that 's broke for you, 
This in commemoration of Me do." 



Luke 
xxii. 13 



Luke 
xxii. 20 



I Cor. 
xi. 23 



284 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

He took the cup, and blessed it to their use, 

Filled with the living, un corrupted juice* 

Of the crushed cluster, ' inoffensive must ' — f 

A thing unleavened, worthy of all trust — 

And, as He gave to them the purple food. 

Said : " Drink ye all of it ; this is My blood 

Of the New Covenant for many shed ; 

Remember me in this, as in the bread. 

I ' 11 drink no more the product of the vine, x^vi"29 

Till in God's Kingdom I shall drink new wine.;}: 

John xiv. 1-37: xv. 1-33 — xvii. 1-26 

•' Be ye not troubled in undue degree, 1°^'^^ 

Belief in God demands belief in Me. 
My Father's house has mansions manifold ; ^ 

If 't were not so, I would you it have told. 
I go for each a dwelling to prepare — 
A house not made with hands, divinely fair, 
A body like my own.| If I you leave, 3 

*To symbolize a body that " did not see corruption." 

t " For drink, the grape she crushes, inoflfensive must." — Paradise Lost, v. 344. 
See Gen. xi. 9-11. 

X See the Evangel, p. 233, note. 

II Before any one rejects this interpretation as fanciful and unauthorized, let him, if 
he will, consider whether it does not suit the context ; and whether it does not har- 
monize with other Scripture. Christ promised His disciples, that, having gone and 
prepared a place for them, He would come again and receive them to Himself, that 



MANY MANSIONS. 



285 



John 
xiv. — 



I will return, and to Myself receive, 
That where I am, there ye may be also. 
Ye know the whither and the way I go." * 

Said Thomas : " Lord, not knowing what Thou 
know'st, 5 

We neither know the way nor place Thou go'st.' 
He said : " I am the True and Living Way — ^ 

Who goes by other roads, he goes astray. 
Comes no one to the Father but by Me— 
Sole means of access, gloriously free. 
Had ye known Me, ye would, in fact, have known 7 
My Father too, revealed in Me alone. 
Henceforth, ye know ye know Him, and have seen." 
Said Philip : " Lord, without a veil betAveen, ^ 

Show us the Father, and 't will us suffice ; 
We fain would have the witness of our eyes.' 

they might be with Him. Did He come? If so, when? If He came to them at death, 
He came — according to Philippians iii. 21 — clothed with omnipotence to fashion them 
a body like unto His own glorious body. Manifestly, it were not a full salvation, 
" without the redemption of the body.' " The house we live in " below, is the body 
of flesh, wonderful beyond everything we know. And we can conceive of no " man- 
sion" that our ascended Lord could prepare for us even in heaven so desirable, as an 
immortal body suited to the needs of the immortal spirit. We feel quite sure that 
there is no substitute for it in the whole universe. 

Another thought. The Lord's Supper, jus: instituted, symbolizes divine assimila- 
tions. By a believing apprehension and appropriation of Christ we are changed into 
the same image. He is our aliment. Our springs of life are in Him. Through Him 
"The inner man is renewed day by day.'' May we not assume, that there is some 
reference here to the spiritual body, which is essential to the completeness of our per- 
sonality as the sons of God? 



286 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



" Have I with you so long time, Philip, been. 



John 
xiv. 9 



And dost thou not Me know ? Who hath Me seen, 

Hath seen the Father— immanent is He, " 

Speaking and working evermore in Me. " 

He that believes on Me, the works I do " 

He shall do also, yea, and greater too. 

Because I go unto the Father, I 

Enabling might will give you from on high, 

Under Truth's banners everywhere unfurled. 

To conquer nations and convert the world. 

Then all ye ask in My name shall be done — '^ 

The Father thus be honored in the Son. 

" If ye love Me, ye ' 11 My commandments keep, 's 
And out of darkness, light shall upward leap ; 
And I will pray the Father you to send '^ 

Another Helper, Advocate and Friend, 
That He may be with you forever, even 
The Spirit of Truth, supremest Gift of Heaven. '7 

" I will not leave you orphans without home, '^ 

Bereaved and desolate, but to you come : 
My Father will you love, and come as well. 
And We will both together with you dwell. 
These things I ' ve spoken to you while I 'm here : 
But He, the Comforter, your hearts will cheer — 



CLOSING BENEDICTION. 287 

The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will ;'i",'^"g 

Send in My name, His office to fulfill — 

To teach you, and to your remembrance bring 

Of all I ' ve said to you, each needful thing. 

And now, Farewell ! receive My fond adieu ! 

Peace I leave with you ; My peace give to you. ^7 

Not as the world I give, words lightly spoke, 

But peace immortal on your heads invoke. 

Let not your heart be troubled or dismayed, 

I go away, but not to stay I said. 

Ye should be glad I to My Father go, '^ 

For He is greater than I am below. 

" I am the Vine, the heavenly and the true : ^".^" 
My Father is the Husbandman, and you 
The branches are. Each barren branch in Me ^ 

He lops off, and each branch that 's fruitful, He, 
By pruning, cleanses, so that it may bear 
Moi"e fruit. Clean through My spoken word ye are. 3 
Abide in Me, and I '11 in you abide. * 

For as the branch cannot its life divide 
From the main vine, and of itself bear fruit. 
Neither can ye, apart from Me, the Root, 
Do anything. He who is joined to Me, s 

And shares My life, bears fruit abundantly. 



288 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

The branch that has that vital oneness lost, ^v!"" 

Lopped from the Vine,, into the fire is tost. 
Ye by much fruit the Father glorify, ^ 

And My disciples prove yourselves thereby. 

" E'en as the Father has loved Me, I you 9 

Have loved, although no love whate'er was due. 
Would ye not alienate this love immense, '° 

Abide in love and in obedience. 

I have addressed to you these counsels plain, " 

That so My joy in you may aye remain, 
And that your joy in love may be complete — 
Fraternal loves and fellowships are sweet, -- 

No one a greater love than this can show. 
To lay down life to save a friend or foe. 
***** 

" I tell you truly, it is for your good ^^^- 7 

That I depart — the Paraclete else would 
Not come to you, But if I go away, * ^ 

I '11 send you Him to dwell with you and stay. 
And when He comes, your Heavenly Helper, He 
Will mouth and wisdom and conviction be — 
Convince the world of Sin — of sins the chief, ^ 

Th ' unpardonable sin of unbelief: 
Of Righteousness — of which to meet the need, '° 



PROMISE OF THE COMFORTER. 289 

My finished work I '11 'fore My Father plead : x"^^^- 
Of Judgment — for earth's prince is judged — his reign " 
O'er souls redeemed destroyed, and broke his chain. 

" I ' ve many things to say to you, but ye '= 

Cannot at present bear them. But when He, '3 

The Spirit of Truth, is come, He will you lead 
Into all truth ; for His word will proceed, 
Not from Himself alone, from Me apart. 
But be th ' unspoken utterance of My heart. 
He will Me glorify, for He will take '* 

Of Mine, and will full revelation make 
Of all I said to you while with you here, 
Authenticate, complete, and make all clear ; 
And He to you will things to come make known — 's 
Divine disclosures of the Eternal Throne." 



Come, Holy Spirit, be my Guest ! 
Prepare a welcome in m}- breast ! 
Unbar the portals, swing thtm wide. 
Enter, My Maker, and abide ! 

Come in, there evermore to stay I 
Nor let my sins drive Thee awayl 



19 



290 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Alas for me, should I Thee grieve, 
And Thou, offended, shouldst me leave. 

Alike, Thou dwellest in the height, 
And hearts made humble and contrite : 
Open my eyes myself to see, 
And clothe me with humility ! 

Sweet Comforter ! Eternal Friend ! 
Be my companion to the end : 
And work in me to will and do, 
Whate'er is pleasing, good and true. 

Take of the things of Christ, and show 
What it concerns me most to know, 
And make me victor over sin. 
That I on earth may heaven begin ! 



" A woman has in travail sorrow, yet /°^" 

A mother's joy makes her her pangs forget. 
And so ye now, because I leave you, mourn, ^ 

But when ye see Me from the grave reborn, 
Ye shall rejoice, and no one shall deprive 



INTERCESSORY PRAYER. 



291 



You of your joy, at sight of Me alive. xvf'"3 

Then all your doubts and questionings shall cease, 

And ye 11 enjoy a calm believing peace. 

And what ye ask the Father, in My name, 

He will be sure to freely give the same. 

Ye have asked naught in My name hitherto. ^+ 

Ask, and He '11 pour His fullness out to you. 

* -Jfr * * -St 

I speak thus, that in Me ye may have peace : 33 

Though in the world, your conflict shall ne'er cease. 
Be of good cheer, I 've overcome, and ye. 
Likewise, shall overcome the world through Me." 

Having thus spoke, He lifted up His eyes, ''^" • 

And prayed and interceded in this wise : 

" Father ! the hour is come for Me to die, 
Foreseen through all the ages. Glorify 
Thy Son in His humiliation, when 
For the redemption of the sons of men, 
Thou mak'st His soul an offering for sin, 
To everlasting righteousness bring in, 
That so the Son may glorify Thee too, 
To whom the honor and the praise are due — 
Being endowed by Thee with power afresh, * 



292 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Right and authority, high o'er all flesh, xvi'^'- 

To give to them, whom Thou to Him hast given, 
Eternal life and happiness in heaven. 

" Now this is life eternal. Thee to know, 3 

And Jesus Christ, Thy Messenger below. 
I have Thee glorified here from My birth, ^ 

And finished have Thy work upon the earth. 
Now, with that glory glorify Thou Me, 5 

I had with Thee from all eternity ! 
As I depart, and to Thy bosom go, 
I pray for these bereaved ones left below. 9 

" O Holy Father ! keep them in Thy name ! " 

May they be one, as we are ! Save from blame ! 
And by Thy Truth them wholly sanctify — '7 

Thy Word is truth, unmingled with a lie. 
As Thou sent'st Me into the world, I send '^ 

Them, My Apostles, forth to the world's end. 
Nqr for these only is My prayer preferred, ^°^ 

But for those also, who shall through their word 
Believe on Me, that so they all may be '"■ 

In Us, as Thou in Me, and I in Thee. 
Father ! I will, that all Thou Me hast given, ""^ 

May with Me be, when throned with Thee in heaven, 



THEY SUNG A HYMN. 293 

That forasmuch, as they My Hkeness bear, 
I in them being, they may with Me share 
The love, wherewith Thou lovedst Me before 
The world's foundations, since and evermore." 



HYMN. 

Ever, My Lord, with Thee, 

Ever with Thee ! 
Through all eternity 

Thy face to see ! 
I count this heaven, to be 
Ever, my Lord, with Thee, 

Ever with Thee ! 

Fair is Jerusalem, 

All of pure gold, 
Garnished with many a gem 

Of worth untold : 
I only ask, to be 
Ever, My Lord, with Thee, 

Ever with Thee I 



294 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

River of Life there flows 

As crystal clear ; 
The Tree of Life there grows 

For healing near : 
But this crowns all, to be 
Ever, my Lord, with Thee, 

Ever with Thee ! 

No curse is there, no night, 

No grief, no fear ; 
Thy smile fills heaven with light, 

Dries every tear: 
What rapture, there to be 
Ever, my Lord, with Thee, 

Ever with Thee ! 



GETHSEMANE. 



295 



XXII. 

BETRAYAL, TRIAL, AND SENTENCE. 

Matt. xxvi. 30-68; Makic xi\'. 26-65; Luke xxii. 39-71; John xviii. 1-24. 

^r^HEY, having sung a Hymn, went out. And soon 
-^ Under the light of the Passover moon-^ xxl^/.'so 
Leaving the City by the eastern gate, 
Not closed throughout the Feast, however iate — 
Passed the brook Kedron to (where used to be) 
A quiet Garden, called Gethsemane, 3^ 

Upon the wooded slope of Olivet, 
Where He had oft with His disciples met, -'"''" 



will. 



Well known to Judas. He, addressing all J;"'^^„ 

Of His disciples, said : " Pray, that ye fall 

Not through temptation ! " Going farther on, 

And taking with Him Peter, James and John, ^i)'.f]^ 

He to the others said : " Sit here, while I 

Pray yonder." Then 'gan a strange agony. 38 

Struck with amaze. He said, with gasping breath, 

" My soul is compassed with the pangs of death. 

Stay here, and watcli ! " Proceeding a short space, 39 



296 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

A Stone's throw further, He fell on His face, xllT- 

And prayed : " Father, if it be possible, 

Let this cup pass from Me ! but, if not, well : 

Not what I will, but what Thou wilt be done — 

Obedient unto death will be Thy Son." 

Then He returned, and finding them asleep, 40 

He said to Peter : " Simon, couldst thou keep 
Not watch with Me one hour? Watch ye and pray, 41 
Lest your frail hearts your tempted feet betray : 
Strength to resist temptation humbly seek, 
The spirit 's willing but the flesh is weak." 
He went away the second time. Again, ^^^^^ 

He, in an agony of grief and pain. 
Prayed yet more earnestly ; and, lo. His sweat 
Was like great drops of blood, that, falling, wet 
Th' astonished ground. As on the shuddering air 
His pallid lips flung out the bitter prayer, 
Appeared to Him a messenger from heaven ; 
And to His fainting heart fresh strength was given. 

Then going back once more, again He found ^^^"; 
The three all fast asleep upon the ground. 
For that their eyes were heavy. He withdrew, « 
And uttered the same doleful words anew : 



THE KISS OF BETRAYAL. 



297 



*' Father ! if this unutterable cup ^*"- 



XXV. 44 



Ma)^ not pass from Me, I will drink it up : 

Though red and full of mixture, drugged with pain. 

I to the dregs will expiation drain. 

I draw not back. Fulfilled be in the Son ! 

I mean to finish what I have begun. 

He rose and His disciples now addressed : ts 

" Ye need not watch. Sleep on and take your rest — 
Vigils are useless. Not your drowsy eyes 
Can more avail to guard against surprise. 
The hour is come, and cannot be delayed. 
The Son of Man, already, is betrayed 
Into the hands of sinners. Let us go ! 46 

I am prepared to meet th' approaching foe." 

While He yet spake, was seen a numerous band 47 
With lanterns, swords, and staves, now close at hand, 
From the chief priests and scribes and elders sent, 
Guided by Judas, who before them went, 
Having a sign them given, saying : " See ^s 

Whom I shall kiss. Him seize ; the same is He." 
As he draws near Him, he, advancing, saith : 49 

" Hail Master !" and Him kisses with vile breath. 
And Jesus says, " Friend ! Judas ! how is this ? 50 

The Son of Man betray'st thou with a kiss ?" J^"'j| 



298 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

He, knowing all things that before Him lay — ^(.'-Jl"^ 
All signs of His late struggle passed away — 
Steps calmly forth. Exposed to view He stands — 
The God-like One — and with firm voice demands, 
" Whom seek ye?" They give faltering reply : ^ 

" Jesus of Nazareth." He answers, " I 
Am He." They, struck with awe profound, ^ 

Go backward, and in heaps fall to the ground. 
Recovered soon, and risen to their feet. 
Again He asks : " Whom seek ye ?" They repeat : ^ 
" Jesus of Nazareth." " I said, I 'm He. ^ 

Therefore, it Me ye seek, let these* go free." 

Him, having seized, they bound fast with a cord, ^l^l]:^^ 
Impetuous Peter drew at once a sword, =^ 

And smote the high priest's servant standing near. 
And, as it happened, cut off his right ear. 
Then Jesus said to him : " Put up thy sword ! '^- 

Back to its scabbard let it be restored ! 
Who takes shall perish by it. Thinkest thou, 53 

I cannot pray unto My Father now, 
And He will of His angels forthwith send 
More than twelve legions Me here to defend ? 

* How touching, this mindfulness of His disciples ! 



THE ARREST. 299 

But how should then (if I My rescue willed) xxl^L'54 

Th' imperatives of Scripture be fulfilled, 

That say, it must thus be? Back shall I shrink, J'^i'\^ 

And not the cup My Father gives Me drink ?" 

And Jesus touched the wounded ear, and said : ^xii'^sr 

" Suffer thus far !" and restoration made. 

Then to the chief priests and the elders — who 52 

Had joined the forces of the Temple to 

The Roman cohort, to remove all doubt 

About th' arrest — He said : " Are ye come out. 

As 'gainst a robber, with a dread array 

Of swords and clubs? I, teaching, day by day, 53 

Sat in the Temple. This, your hour of might, 

And domination of the powers of night. 

Is a permitted triumph, to fulfil 

The Scriptures that declare Jehovah's will." xxvl^so 

Then all th' Eleven Him forsook and fled. 

They, to the high priest's house, their captive led, 57 
Where all the chief priests, scribes and elders were 
Assembled, in night session, to confer, 
By what pretence of crime 'gainst Caesar, they 
His death could compass on the coming day — 
Resolved, that innocence should be no bar. 



300 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Peter and John had followed Him afar. xviii!"i5 

Admittance unto John was not denied, 

He being known, but Peter stood outside : "^ 

Wherefore, John spake to her who kept the port, 

And brought in Peter to the inner Court, 

Where all rooms opened. Looking through a door. 

He could see Jesus. As he sat before ^^""^^ 

The fire, among the servants, being cold, 

A maid of the high priest, him eyeing, told ^^ 

Him threat'ningly : " Thou, also, wast with this ^^ 

Jesus of Nazareth." He said : " I wis ^^ 

Not what thou sayest." And the cock then crew. 

Later, another maid him charged anew, ^9 

Saying, " This is one of them." He denied, x^vf'72 

A second time, and with an oath beside, 

Declaring, " I know not the man." About 

An hour from this, one said : " Thou art, no doubt, 73 

Of Galilee, and one of them : beside 

I saw thee in the Garden." He denied. 

The third time, and began to curse and swear : 

^' I know Him not, and do not for Him care." 

While he was speaking, the cock crew again, 

And the Lord turned, and looked on Peter. Then ^^^^ 

He called to mind His words : " Ere twice 



MIDNIGHT SESSION OF THE SANHEDRIM. 301 

The cock shall crow, thou wilt deny Me thrice." 
And, as he thought thereon, his breast, storm swept, 
Heaved like a sea, and he went forth and wept. 

'T WAS after midnight, when they reached the gate. 
While Love kept drowsy watch, unsleeping Hate 
Unbroken vigils kept. No eye was dim 
Of those dark plotters of the Sanhedrim, 
Informally convened — a hostile part. 
All of one mind, without a wavering heart — 
Sentence of death intending to report. 
When should, at daybreak, meet the entire Court. 
The high priest Caiaphas, in turbaned pride, 
• Sat in the middle, and, on either side 
The other judges in a semicirque. 
Impatient to complete their bloody work, 
So well begun. It was a welcome sight, 
Jesus, their dread, a prisoner that night. 

Composed and calm, He stood before them then. 
The Judge of judges, to be judged of men. 
They could not help but feel a guilty shame. 
And half allow the justice of His claim, 
As, unabashed. He scanned each scowling face, 
And showed of terror not the slightest trace. 



302 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



E'en the high priest, a haughty Sadducee, 

Was forced to own the power of purity. 

But the trained worldhng his misgivings masked, 

And, with imperious looks, Him fiercely asked Ji^_\ 

Concerning His disciples, and His claims, 

The nature of His doctrine, and His aims. 

And what it meant, His publishing abroad 

Th' immediate Coming of the Reign of God, 

Calling Himself the Son of Man, and so 

Hailed as Messiah a few days ago. 

Jesus him answered : " I spake, day by day, =° 

Openly to the world. I taught alway 
In public places where the Jews resort, 
Temple and Synagogue. Let them report " 

Who heard Me what I said. In secret I 
Have spoken nothing." And one standing by "^ 

Him forthwith struck upon the mouth, and said, 
" Answerest Thou the high priest so ? " He made ^3 
Mild answer : " If t 've spoken what 's untrue. 
Bear witness to th' untruth — this thou may'st do — 
But if I 've nothing said but what is right. 
Why dost thou Me thus violently smite ? " 

Left in the keeping of the Temple guard — ^^te^ 
Fierce Jewish bigots, pitiless and hard — 



BEFORE THE SANHEDRIM. 



303 



With fist, with open hand, with stick and rod, xxvT.67 

They cufifed and smote the patient Son of God. 

Buffet and blow fell on that sacred head ; 

And, while blindfolded, " Prophesy " (they said, ^ 

In brutal mockery and cruel sport) 

" Who struck Thee then." Provoked to no retort, 

He gave His back to the fierce smiters there ; ^^,^'|'' 

His cheek to them that plucked off the hair ; 

From shame and spittle did not hide His face ; 

But meekly bore all outrage and disgrace. 

As soon as it was day, they Jesus brought ^^^1^^^ 

Into the Council, and false witness sought l]^"}^ 

To bring against Him to put Him to death. 
But they found none. In spite of venal breath, 56 
And subornation of foul perjury. 
In no case did two witnesses agree. 
When two false witnesses, at last, arose, s? 

They differed still, when called on to depose, ss 

Concerning words which they heard Him employ — 
Declaring, as one said, " I can destroy 
This Temple " ; saying, th' other witness swore, 
" I wt// destroy this Temple, and restore 
It without hands within three days complete." 



304 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Again they suffered failure and defeat. ^^^'^ 

Something was wanting to make out a case, 59 

More than this proof, discordant on its face. 

So the high priest, upstarting from his couch, ^° 

Said, angrily : " What is it these avouch 

And charge against Thee ? Answerest Thou naught ? " 

But Jesus held His peace. To fury wrought. 

He said, " I, by the Living God, adjure xx%4.63 

Thee under oath, to tell us, and assure. 

Whether Thou be the Christ, God's Son or no ? " 

And Jesus thus adjured, said : " I am so. ^^ 

Hereafter, ye shall see the Son of Man, 

Sitting on the right hand of Power, and scan 

His dreadful coming in the clouds of heaven. 

With well-feigned horror, and with vestments riven, ''s 

The high priest said : " What further need have we 

Of witnesses ? We 've heard His blasphemy. 

What think ye ? " And all gave it as their sense, ^^ 

He 's guilty of a capital offence. 

Not having power to put to death. Him they J.^^^^g 
Led bound, and under a strong guard, away 
To the Pretorium. To enter it 
Would be defilement, and make them unfit 



JESUS IS BROUGHT BEFORE PILATE. 305 

To eat the Passover — so stayed outside. xvfu'— 

An early audience was not denied. =<* 

Pilate, the procurator, going out, 
Began to ask th' authorities about 
The man's offence. They gruffly said : " If He 3° 
Were not a malefactor, why should we 
Deliver Him to thee ? " He, when he saw 
They quibbled, said : " Take, judge Him by your 
law ! " 31 

They said : " He under it death meriteth. 
But we 've no right to put a man to death" — 
The words of Jesus thus to verify, 3^ 

Telling what kind of death He was to die.* 



Luke 
xxiii. 2 



They charged Him then with criminal intent 
To overturn the Roman Government ; 
Sowing sedition ; leading minds astray ; 
Bidding the people not to tribute pay 
To Caesar, claiming that Himself was King, 3 

Their Christ, who would deliverance them bring. 

Pilate withdrew into the Judgment Hall, xvutls 

And Jesus there, obedient to his call. 
Was brought, that he might question Him, apart 

* Crucifixion was a Roman punishment. 
20 



3o6 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

From His accusers. " So," he said ; " Thou art xvHL - 
King of the Jews?" He answered : " In good faith,34 
Is this what t/wn say'st ? or another saith ? " 
"Am I a Jew?" replied he, scornfully, 35 

" The chief priests have delivered Thee to me. 
What hast Thou done?" Spake the Supreme of 

Men : 36 

" My Kingdom is not of this world, for then 
I armed adherents' aid would not refuse, 
To save Me from the vengeance of the Jews. 
But now My Kingdom 's not an earthly thing." 
" Thou art then," Pilate said, " in fact a King?" 37 
" Thou speakest truly — King, in fact and name — 
I to this end was born, I for this came 
Into the world, to. reign and witness here 
Unto the Truth. All to My voice give ear 
Who 're of the Truth. My loyal subjects they, 
Who hear the Truth, and hearing it obey." 
" But what is Truth ? — Philosophy's despair." 38 

Tossing the question on th' unanswering air, 
Pilate went out again, and said : " I find 39 

No fault in Him." They then, with desperate 

mind ^^^ 



PILATE SENDS HIM TO HEROD. 307 

Charged Him with many things. When He said 
naught- ^l^'l 

But as a lamb, that 's to the slaughter brought ; 
A sheep, that 's dumb before her shearers, so 
Not opening His mouth, in patient woe — 
Knowing the uselessness of all defense, 
Pilate much marvelled at His reticence. ^ 



When he persisted in affirming still. 



Luke 



4 



'' I find no fault in Him" — more fierce to kill, s 

They sought to brand Him as a dangerous pest, 
Exciting insurrection without rest, 
Teaching throughout all Jewry, the whole space 
From Galilee, they said, unto this place. 

No sooner mention did they Galilee, * 

Than Pilate caught at it, and asked, if He 
A Galilean was ? And, when he found, 
It Herod's jurisdiction was and ground ' 

To which He properly belonged, he sent 
Jesus to Herod, who, by accident. 
Was also at Jerusalem just then — 
Come to attend the Passover. And when 
He Jesus saw, he was exceeding glad ; * 

Because, for a long season, he had had 



3o8 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

A great desire to see Him, having heard xxut^— 

Of many things accompHshed by His word, 
And hoped to see some miracle now wrought. 
In vain he questioned Him, He answered naught. '> 
The chief priests and the scribes, with might and 
main, ^'^ 

Renewed, and pressed their calumnies again. 

But Herod, too astute to be betrayed 
Into th' acceptance of their wild tirade — 
Knowing that what they vehemently averred 
Was mostly false, malicious and absurd ; 
Himself acquainted with Him, by report, 
And marvellings of men of his own court ;* 
Not fearing Him, as dangerous to the State, 
But well advised His following was great ; 
Taught by experience, in the case of John 
Whom he beheaded, there were risks to run — 
Though flattered by the compliment him paid, 
Whereby with Pilate he was friendly made, " 

True to his foxy nature, took good care 
That he was caught not in the Roman's snare. 

* Herod had heard of His miracles (Matt. xiv. i) ; Manaen (Acts xiii. i) his foster 
brother, was one of the prophets and teachers in the church of Antioch , and Johanna, 
the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward (Luke viii. 3) was one of those devoted women 
who ministered to Jesus of their substance. 



PILATE WISHES TO RELEASE HIM. 309 

Though he cared not the innocent should bleed, x]d?/^t- 

He 'd shun the needless odium of the deed. 

While making ready Jesus back to send, " 

Supposing it would better him commend 

To the fierce priesthood (strange such monsters are), 

He laughing part took with his men of war 

In making vulgar sport — like cruel bo)"S, 

Paying mock homage, with grimace and noise. 

As to a king, what time they tricked Him out 

With a white robe to wear upon the route. 

Pilate, disposed to save Him if he could, '3 

Let his ' I dare not ' wait upon ' I would,' 
Unjust demands unable to refuse. 
Th' authorities and people of the Jews 
Again he summons, and again affirms h 

His innocence, in most emphatic terms : 
" You charge Him with exciting to revolt ; 
Touching this crime, I find Plim without fault. 
And Herod, too, to whom I you referred, '5 

Has in this judgment tacitly concurred. 
Having chastised Him, He shall be released, '^ 

Custom requiring, I should at this Feast '? 

Surrender you a prisoner. Do you choose, ^^^^ 



3IO 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



That I release to you King of the Jews? — " 
He knowing very well the Sanhedrim 
Out of sheer envy had delivered Him. 

They said, with cries and shouts that did not cease, 
" Away with this man ! and to us release xxiihs 

Barabbas! " Now, Barabbas lay fast bound "> 

For murder and sedition — dangerous found, 
A restless zealot, born of troublous times, 
Of bad repute because of other crimes. 
" What shall I do, since you Barabbas choose, ^^^^^ 
With Him ye designate King of the Jews? " 
And they cried out again : " Him crucify ! " 
Once more th' unwilling governor said, " Why ? 
What evil has He done ? I have not found 
Just cause of death on which to sentence ground." 



XV. 12 



Outside of the Pretorium, or Hall 
Of Judgment, was a place they used to call 
The Pavement, but in Hebrew Gabbatha, 
Where, in the open air and light of day. 
Trials might be conducted. Pilate there 
For judgment sat, in his high curule chair, 
When his wife Procla warning whisper sent, 
An unjust condemnation to prevent. 



Matt, 
xxvii. 19 



PILATE REAFFIRMS HIS INNOCENCE. 



311 



Psalms 
x.\ii 12 



Matt. 
xxvii. 20 



Saying : " Yield not ! stand firm ! have naught to do 

With that just man ! lest my day's dream come true." 

But bulls of Bashan, the priest-goaded crowd, 

Ceased not their bellowings — with voices loud, 

And urgent clamor growing more and more. 

The chief priests leading in the wild uproar. 

They shouted the demand in Pilate's ear : 

*' Him crucify ! Him crucify ! " until in fear, 

He weakly but reluctantly complied, --^ 

And sentence gave He should be crucified. 

Washing his hands before the multiude. 

He told them : " I am guiltless of the blood 

Of this just man. See ye to it." They said : ^5 

" His blood be on ours and our children's head." 

So he released to them Barabbas. When ^^ 

His soldiers had scourged Jesus, they again 
Led Him inside of the Pretorium, ^7 

And, when their whole band had together come. 
Stripped Him; clothed Him with purple; platted 
now ^^ 

A thorny crown to mock His bleeding brow ; ^9 

A reed put in His hand ; in mimicry 
Of worship paid to sovereigns, bowed the knee ; 



312 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Saluting Him, said : " Hail, King of the Jews !" x^^Jn"— 
Then spat on Him ; and took the reed to use 3° 

In smiting Him upon the head and face. 
And heaped on Him all manner of disgrace. 



Pilate went forth again, and said to them : 
" I bring Him forth I without cause condemn." 



John 
xix. 4 



Pale, haggard, bleeding, tottering and forlorn, 
Wearing the purple robe and wreathing thorn, 
Jesus came forth — the warm blood shuddering ran, 
While Pilate, pointing, said : " Behold the Man ! " 
Chief priests and underlings, a barking crowd, 
Th' assembly of the wicked, yelping loud, 
At sight of Him sent up the th' impatient cry, 
Unceasing, " Crucify ! Him Crucify ! " 
Then Pilate said : " Since ye refuse to halt, 
Ye take and crucify, for I no fault 
Have found in Him against the Roman laws." 
The Jews replied : '* Under our law, because 
He made Himself the Son of God, have we 
Doomed Him to death for guilt of blasphemy." 

When Pilate heard this, he was more afraid. 
The superhuman patience He displayed, 
His more than mortal majesty of mien, 



PILATE YIELDS AND PASSES SENTENCE. 



313 



Transcending" all that he had ever seen, 1°!^ 

O ' XIX. — 

Filled him with dread misgivings, fortified 

By his wife's dream and warning words beside. 

Who is He ? this mysterious silent One, 

Claiming the awful title of God's Son. 

He feared the Jews, but then to brave the curse 

And wrath of the immortal gods were worse. 

So, going back to the Pretorium, 9 

He said to Jesus : " Whence art Thou ? " When 

dumb, 
Yielding no answer, Pilate said : " Dost Thou '" 

Not speak to me ? Dost Thou not know, that now 
I 've power to crucify Thee or set free ? " 
He said : " Thou couldst no power have over Me " 
Unless Heaven-given. Who did this wrong begin, 
And Me delivered, has the greater sin." 

Pilate sought thenceforth to release Him, " No !" " 
The Jews cried out. " If thou let this Man go 
Thou art not Caesar's friend. Who claims to be 
A King, he strikes at his authority." 

When Pilate heard these words, not sure about jj^°^° 
His own position, he brought Jesus out. 
The hour was nine. Intending it to sting, •+ 

He said unto the Jews, " Behold your King ! " 



314 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



" Away with Him ! away with Him ! " they cry — 

" Him crucify ! " He said : " What ! crucify 

Your King ? " " We have no King," chief priests 

repHed, 
" But Csesar." He the doom then ratified. 

Motives, that Judas moved, soon spent their force, 
When followed an intolerable remorse. x^vii!'3 

No sooner had the dreadful deed been done. 
Than, like the utter quenching of the Sun, 
The blackness of a darkness round him fell 
Out of the bottom of profoundest hell. 
Not power of fire, nor yet the moon's clear light, 
The stars' bright fiames, could lighten that dread 

night — 
An earnest of the darkness that shall bind 
With chains perpetual the guilty mind. 
When Conscience wakens who can with her strive ? 
Terrors and troubles from a sick soul drive ? 
Naught so unpitying as the ire of sin, 
The inappeas'ble Nemesis within. 

O thought of horror ! since twelve hours ago. 
He had pulled down eternities of woe. 

The dream of avarice was at an end. 



REMORSE AND SUICIDE OF JUDAS. 315 

He had betrayed his loving Lord and Friend, ^xvu. - 

Lost to all hope, by all the furies driven, 

He heard behind him close the gates of Heaven. 

The world seemed different. A bodeful sound 

Rose from the shuddering, accusing ground. 

Traitor and murderer, the conscious skies 

Looked down with wrathful and reproving eyes. 

By some strange sorcery, all things appeared 

Eldritch, possessed, unnatural and weird. 

Was it a demon's, or his own soul's hiss 

That filled his ears ? so like that mortal kiss 

By which he stung his Lord with serpent mouth. 

He felt the burning of a dreadful drouth, 

That dried up all the moisture of the throat — 

Scarce able to articulate a note. 

As in the clutches of a strong despair 

He tried to shape his guilty lips to prayer. 

He saw Him scourged, mocked, spit upon, contemned, 

And as a felon to the Cross condemned. 3 

And was all this his work ? What should he do ? 

He to the chief priests and the elders flew, 

And throwing down the price, he wildly said : 

" Lo I have sinned, in that I have betrayed * 

The Innocent. I your base bribe return." 



3i6 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

They said : "What's that to us ? That's your concern." 
Leaving behind Him the accursed pelf xx^^l's 

He in a frenzy went and hanged himself. 

Being the price of blood, the chief priests thought ^ 
It would defile the treasury, so bought 
The potter's field to bury strangers in ^ 

With the nefarious reward of sin. 
Wherefore the field was called Aceldama, ^ 

The Field of Blood, and is so to this day. 



JESUS LED TO CRUCIFIXION. ^,17 



XXIII. 

THE CRUCIFIXION. 

Matt, xxvii. 31-66; Makk xv. 20-47; Luke xxiii. 33-56; John xix. 28-42. 

TIRED of the sport, their cruel mockings o'er, 
They doff His robes, and His own clothes restore. 
Then lead away, weighed down with His own cross, 
Jesus to crucifixion. Faint with loss J^*""^ 

Of blood, and His long agony, He fell 
Beneath the load. They, thereupon, compel .x.x'ii'u^26 
One Simon, a Cyrenian, to bear 

His cross behind Him, while close followed there ==7 
A crowd of people and of women, who 
With waitings loud His painful steps pursue. 
He, turning round, said to them tenderly : ^^ 

'' Ye daughters of Jerusalem weep not for Me. 
Weep for yourselves, and for your children. Yea, 
The time is coming in which they will say, ^9 

* Happy the barren wombs that never bore. 
And breasts that ne'er gave suck ;' and will implore 3° 
The mountains to fall on them, and the hills 



3l8 THE LIGHT OF THE WOJiLD. 

To cover them from unexampled ills. xxu^- 

Your rulers are triumphant and elate, 

That they have slain the object of their hate. 

But to reject their promised Christ and King, 

Then slay Him is a dark and dreadful thing. 

The wickedness that did this sin contrive, 3' 

Is green and flourishing, and, while alive, 

Will grow each year to more and more, until 

The bound is reached and limit of God's will ; 

Then the tree 's dry and bending boughs shall rain 

O'er the doomed land full recompense of pain." 

By the same band to execution led 32 

Two malefactors Him accompanied. 
Come to the place called Golgotha, a Skull, ^^^^2 

Outside the gate, they first. His pains to dull. 
Gave Him to drink wine, drugged with myrrh* — 
but He ^'s 

Preferred to bear th' unsoftened agony, 

*As myrrh does not of itself possess any anodyne properties, it may have been used 
as a mere flavorer to disguise the taste of some other drug — possibly, M mdyagora 
which is said to have been employed by the ancients as an anaesthetic in surgical op- 
erations — in the same way as Chloroform, and other like agents are now. Mandra- 
gora ( Mandrake) is allied to Belladonna, botanically and medicinally, and is said to 
be even more powerfully narcotic. Its root, which is large, is divided into two or 
three forks, giving it some resemblance to the human body ; whence rose, probably, the 
superstition, that it was endowed with animal feelings ; and the fabulous stories of its 



HE IS NAILED TO THE CROSS. 31Q 

'T was the third hour when He was crucified, ^.^'^^ 
The two thieves with Him placed on either side, ^7 
Fulfilling Scripture, which had in the past "^ 

Foretold He with transgressors should be classed. 
They pierced His hands and feet with cruel steel, x^dTh 34 
That had been only used to bless and heal. 
And Jesus said, as they the nails drove through, 
" Father, forgive ! They know not what they do." 

Taking the outer garments Jesus wore, ^^^23 

These the four soldiers parted into four; 
But for one tunic, seamless and entire, "* 

uttering shrieks when torn from the earth. Shakespeare, in several places, alludes to 
this plant. As when Banquo in Macbeth, says : 

" Or have we eaten of the insane root 
That takes the reason prisoner." 

Again in Anthony and Cleopatra : 

" Give me to drink mandrag-ora." 
Also in Othello: 

" Not poppy, nor mandragora, 
Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world 
Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep 
Which thou ow'dst yesterday." 

In Romeo and Juliet, there is an allusion to it in another aspect : 

"And shrieks like mandrakes torn out of the earth 
That living mortals hearing them run mad." 

It was potent in all kinds of enchantment, and is supposed to have been the same as 
the magical herb Boaras, said to cure demoniacs ; and was procured at great risk by 
the death of the dog employed to pull it up. Josephus, B. J. vii. 6, § 3. That it might 
have been found curative in cases of Epilepsy, mistaken for demoniacal possession, 
is rendered probable by the fact, that Belladonna has been regarded by some as a 
.specific in Epilepsy. 



320 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



They all cast lots, as they did not desire 

To tear it. Scripture thus was verified, 

' My garments they among them did divide ; 

They cast lots on My vesture.' Pilate wrote 

A title o'er His head, so all might note : 

' This Jesus is, King of the Jews' — displayed 

In Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Murmuring, said 

The chief priests then to Pilate : " Rather use 

The words. He said I King am of the Jews, 

Not that He is." But Pilate answered, " No ! 

What I have written I have written. Go ! " 



John 
xix: ^ 



Matt. 



The people stood beholding. Passing by, ^x^,, ^^ 
Some rail and wag their heads, and, taunting, cry, ^° 
" Thou Who the Temple dost destroy, and dost. 
In three days, it rebuild, make good thy boast ! 
Now save Thyself, and come down from the cross." 
The rulers, likewise, stooped their gibes to toss : t' 
" Let Christ, the King of Israel, descend ! 
He claimed He others saved, but, in the end, ^^ 

He cannot save Himself. God's will be done ! 43 

Let God deliver, if He will. His Son." 



Luke 



One of the malefactors blasphemed thus : xxm. 39 

" If Thou be Christ, now save Thyself and us ! " 



THE PENITENT THIEF. 



321 



The other him rebuked : " Hast thou no fear .hf;''^" 

XXllt. 40 

Of God, before whom thou wilt soon appear, 

Since thou in the same condemnation art ? 

We suffer justly, merited the smart, 41 

The due reward of our misdeeds ; but this. 

The murdered Christ, has nothing done amiss." 

He spake to Jesus : " Lord ! remember me, ■'^ 

When in Th)^ Kingdom Thou enthroned shalt be.' 

" Thou shalt to-day," He from the cross replies, ts 

" Be verily with Me in Paradise." 

His mother and His mother's sister stood kS!^% 

With Mary Magdalene beside the wood 

On which He hung. When Jesus saw, therefore, "^ 

His mother desolate and weeping sore. 

And, standing by. His loved disciple John, 

He said unto her: " Woman ! see thy son." 

Then said to him : " Thy mother see ! " And the)- =7 

Maintained that dear relation from that day. 



'T was night at noonday. Over all the land 
Brooded a darkness, none could understand, 
Hiding His person with a decorous shroud 
From the coarse vision of the scoffing crowd. 
The sun was darkened, but without eclipse, 
A frown of Nature hushing impious lips — 

21 



Matt, 
x.xvii. 45 



322 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Matt, 
xxvii. — 



A preternatural, Egyptian gloom, 

Prophetic of the day of final doom. 

After three hours, or the ninth hour about, *^ 

From Jesus' lips the anguished cry rang out : 

" Eli ! Eli ! lama sabacthani ! " 

My God ! Oh why hast thou forsaken Me ? 

Some said : " He for Elijah calls. Let be, ■♦^ 

Whether he '11 come to save Him we will see." 

And Jesus spake again : " I thirst." Straightway, *^ 

One wet a sponge with vinegar, and lay 

It on His lips, which opening now to speak. 

Cried : " It is finished ! " followed by a shriek x^ix!^3o 

As His heart broke,* and, through the fatal rent, xxHi!'46 

The spirting life blood found unnatural vent. 

* The opinion that the immediate physical cause of death in our Lord was Rupture 
of the Heart, derives much support from the facts of the case so far as recorded. The 
cry or shriek which immediately preceded His "giving up the ghost" may have been 
due to a violent spasm of the organ, causing the rupture. The Heart is enclosed in a 
shut sac, called the Pericardium, which is sometimes the seat of a dropsical effusion, 
filling it up and distending it to that degree that the Heart has no room to act. In case 
of Rupture of the Heart, the contraction which should drive the blood into the arteries, 
forces it into the Pericardium, filling and distending it, and if the rent is large death 
foilows immediately. The retained blood undergoes the familiar change which every- 
body must have observed, when blood is drawn in a basin — i. e., its separation into a 
soft coagulum or clot which is red, and serum which is nearly colorless like water. 
Should the containing sac be punctured under such circumstances, there would nec- 
essarily be an escape of gore and serum, popularly described as blood and water. It 
is difficult to understand how blood and water in any considerable quantity should 
have followed from a spear-thrust in any other way. The Heart itself after death is 
found entirely empty, except in rare cases, when there is a clot, called heart-clot, re- 
garded as abnormal. It is singular that the great painters make the mistake of pic- 
turing the wound on the right side instead of the left. 



THIS WAS THE SON OF GOD. 



323 



Psalm 



Out of the lifting darkness, there was heard 

His final, loud, and lamentable word : 

" Reproach My heart has broken — now 's the end. 

Father! My spirit I to Thee commend."' ^^^^ ^^ 

At the dread moment He gave uj) the ghost, 
A new amazement seized the heavenly host. 
The great veil of the Temple, sacred screen, x^tLsi 
From top to bottom rent by hands unseen. 
Allowed th' excluded day beyond to shine, 
To show a vacant and abandoned shrine. 
And the earthr trembled, and the rocks were rent, 
Tombs opened, and from riven monument, 52 

After His resurrection, saints, who slept, 
Divinely quickened and raised up, forth stepped, S3 
And went into the City, and appeared 
To many. All the guard of soldiers feared S4 

Exceedingly, with the centurion. 
When they the earthquake saw, and wonders done. 
" This was," they all instinctively cried out, 
*' A righteous man, the Son of God no doubt." 
All His acquaintance, and the women who ss 

Waited on Him, and other women too 
From Galilee, far off with streaming eyes 
Beheld these things, and filled the air with cries. 



324 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Wicked hands, how sad the story ! 
Crucified the Lord of Glory, 

Nailed Him to the accursed tree : 
In Thy side the spear did bury. 
Son of God ! and Son of Mary ! 

Murdered One of Calvary ! 

Was there ever known such malice ? 
Gall of hatred in the chalice 

For Thy lips of love wrung out : 
Priests, with scribes and elders, mocking. 
As they pass, O sight most shocking ! 

Wag their heads, revile and flout. 

Was there. Thine own words to borrow, 
Ever sorrow like Thy sorrow, 

When our sins were on Thee laid ? 
Sorrow, which that cry could waken, 
" Why, My God, am I forsaken?" 

Never was since worlds were made. 

Never, after such dear fashion. 

Was there witnessed such compassion ; 

Publish ye, who know the grace ! 
Make commanded proclamation 
Of the Gospel of Salvation, 

To each creature of the race ! 



HIS SIDE PIERCED WITH A SPEAR. 



3: 



For 't was the Preparation,* the next day ^-^^"^ 

Being the Paschal Sabbath, to let stay 
The bodies on the cross beyond the hour 
When holy time began, were trespass sour. 
The Jews, therefore, prayed Pilate to direct 
Their bones be broken, thereby to effect 
Their speedy death, so they could be removed. 
The soldiers broke the other two's, who proved 32 
To be still living, but, when they perceived 33 

Jesus was dead already, they believed 
It needless in His case, His legs to break : 
But with a spear a soldier (death to make 34 

Most sure) the heart-sac pierced, with blood distent. 
Filled from the bursting heart's own fatal rent. 
And John, from the wide wound, saw forthwith pour 
Water and blood, pale serum and red gore, 35 

These Scriptures to fulfil, " Of Him a bone 36 

Shall not be broken." " They shall look on One 
Whom they have pierced." 37 

That eve, to Pilate came ^^^^^ 
A man of Arimathea, whose name t3 

Was Joseph, rich, a good man and a just, 

* Sabbath-eve, which was the latter half of the afternoon of Friday, was called the 
Preparation or Parascive, that being the time set apart by the Jews to prepare for 
the Sabbath. Jesus was crucified at or between 9 a. m. and 12 m.; expired at 3 p. m. 



326 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

One of the Sanhedrim, who, with disgust ^l^^^ 

And open disapproval, had beheld 

The furious prejudice which had impelled 

His fellow-judges wickedly to lie, 

And on false charges Jesus crucify. 

Although convinced, by all he saw and knew, 

His august claims authentic were and true, 

He had not dared to openly avow 

His faith and his discipleship ; but now. 

He, boldly, knowing well what shame he braved. 

His body of the procurator craved. 

Pilate, surprised He 'd died so soon, inquired -^^ 

Of the centurion when He expired. 

And, having learned, he gave the asked for leave, ^s 

Joseph the body hastened to receive ; 

And found, awaiting him, most welcome aid ^^"^"^ 

In Nicodemus (once like him afraid, 

But now no longer), who brought ample store, 

Aloes and myrrh a hundred pounds or more, 



For his embalming — Joseph, with like thought, 
Having supply of finest linen brought. 



Mark 

XV. 48 



Now in the place, where He was crucified, ,^1°*'"^ 
He had a garden ; in it on one side 
There was a tomb, rock-hewn and newly-made, 



PLACED IN A NEW-MADE TOMB. 



)27 



In which, as yet, no man was ever laid. mx!*— 

Lifting the lifeless form with tender care, *"" 

They thither it most reverently bear. 

And, having washed from all defiling stains 

The mangled, bruised, thrice sacred, dear remains. 

They take the spices and the linen bands, +° 

And swathe the body with soft loving hands. 

Then place it in the tomb, and close the door 

Of entrance with a stone they roll before. 

The sun was setting when the task was done, 

And as they left the Sabbath had begun. 

Next day, chief priests and Pharisees combined 
To say to Pilate, " We recall to mind, xx^h"62 

That that deceiver said while yet alive. ^^ 

' After three days I will again revive.' 
Command, therefore, the sepulchre be made ^* 

Sure, till the third day, else, we are afraid. 
That His disciples will Him steal away 
During the night, and to the people say. 
He 's risen from the dead, so shall be worse. 
By far, the final error, than the first." 

And Pilate said : " Ye have a watch. It make ^5 
Sure as ye can — your own precautions take." 
They set a watch, and not with this content, 
They sealed the stone that closed the monument. 



328 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



CHRIST CRUCIFIED. 

Christ crucified ! amazing theme ! 

I see, beneath that mean disguise, 
Th- undoubted peer of God Supreme ! 

The awful Monarch of the Skies ! 

No malefactor He, whose gore 

Drips from the wood and dyes the sod 

Gashed, pierced, and bleeding, I adore 
The meek and patient Son of God. 

O Friend Divine ! I hear those groans 
The shuddering universe appall : 

The pleading pity of those tones, 
Which on my head forgiveness call. 

If I such matchless grace forget, 
This costly charity of heaven. 

Then ma)^ I bear th' uncancelled debt, 
And die and never be forgiven. 



VEXILLA REC.IS PRODEUNT.— TRANSLATION. 329 



VEXILLA REGIS PRODEUNT— Tmnslafion. 
I. 

The Royal Ensign forth is flung, 
The blazon of the Cross unfurled, 

On which incarnate Godhead hung, 

Flesh of our flesh, who made the Avorld. 

11. 
Where from His wounded side, moreo'er, 

By thrust of cruel spear point keen 

Flowed forthwith water mixed with gore, 

To wash from guilt and make us clean. 

III. 
That which the Psalmist David sung 

In faithful song, was thus made good ; 
Saying, ' The Lord hath reigned among 

The subject nations from the wood.' 



* 



IV. 
Thrice beautiful, far-beaming Tree ! 

Adorned with kingly purple, much 
Hast thou been honored, thus to be 

Chosen His holy limbs to touch. 

*In some Greek: copies, ^nd in the old Latin or Italic Version the tenth verse of the 
96th Psalm is: "Tell it out among the heathen that the Lord reignethfrom the Tree," 



330 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

V. 

Blest thou, whose arms outstretched were made 
The balance, on whose mystic beam 

The ransom of the world was weighed, 
Souls from perdition to redeem. 

I. III. 

Vexilla Regis prodeunt, Impleta sunt quae concinit 

Fulget crucis mysterium, David fideli carmine, 

Quo carne carnis conditor Dicens, In nationibus 

Suspensus est patibulo : Regnavit a ligno Deus : 

II. IV. 

Quo vulneratus insuper Arbora decora et fulgida, 

Mucrone dire lancese, Ornata Regis purpura, 

Ut nos lavaret crimine Electa digno stipite 

Manavit unda et sanguine. Tarn sancta membra tangere. 

V. 

Beata cujus brachiis 
Pretium perpendit saeculi, 
Statera facta corporis, 
Tulitque praedam tartaris. 

Although the words, " from the tree ' had evidently been added, much stress was laid 
on them by Justin Martyr, Augustine and others, as containing a prophetic intima- 
tion of the manner of Christ's death. — Trench. 

This world-famous Processional Hymn, which Daniel calls " one of the grandest in 
the treasury of the Latin church," was composed by Fortunatus — who lived in the 
sixth century. 



THE WOMEN GOING TO THE SEPULCHRE. 



331 



XXIV. 

RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION. 

Matt, xxviii. 2-20; Mark x\i. 1-20; Luke xxiv. 1-53; John xx. i — xxi. 25. 



T 



Mark 
xvi. I 



HE Sabbath o'er, at early dawn was seen, 
In the dim twilight, Mary Magdalene, 
And Mary who the mother was of James, 
And at her side Salome — sainted names — 
Wending their way unto the Sepulchre, 
Sweet spices bringing each along with her, 
That the embalming which had been begun 
They might complete. They all supposed the Sun 
Had not yet risen, for the East was gray. 
Streaked with faint tokens of the breaking day. 
They thought it early ; little did they know, 
Their Sun was up an hour or more ago, 
And, with His rising light, had chased the gloom, 
And all the doubt and terror of the tomb. 
They, at the time, had heard a rumbling sound, ^;^'^^i[; , 
And thought it was an earthquake. Had they known, 
That mighty hands then rolled away the stone. 



232 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

From the tomb's mouth, they'd had no need to ask 
Who should perform for them the friendly task : f^f 3 
For, lo, an angel had come down from heaven, x^hi's 
And ingress to an empty tomb had given. 
His face like lightning was ; his raiment white, 
Blinding and terrible to mortal sight. 
For fear of him the keepers shook, and then, -♦ 

Swooning away, became like to dead men. 

Now Mary Magdalene, with quickened pace, {"^"l 
Reached sooner than the rest th' appointed place. 
And, having seen the stone was rolled away, 
She waited not, but ran, without delay, ^ 

To John and Peter with the heavy word : 
" They have removed, we know not where, the Lord." 
Peter and John both run, but John outrun, 3. 4 

And reached the tomb before the other one, 5 

And, stooping down, the linen clothes he saw, 
But went not in, restrained by sense of awe. 
Then Peter came, and, ent'ring, saw inside, ^ 

The linen clothes, and napkin that was tied ? 

About His head — each folded up with care, 
And lying separate. Then entered there * 

John too, who having seen, in part believed — 



HE IS NOT HERE; HE IS RISEN. 333 

For they, as yet, had not the sense perceived ^^''" 

Of what the Scriptures, and Himself had said. 
Touching His resurrection from the dead. 
They went away, but Mary still remained. 

Meanwhile,* it chanced, the other women gained 
The Sepulchre soon after she had gone ; ^^^^^ 

And saw, to their surprise, the ponderous stone, 
That closed the entrance, had been rolled away. 
And, entering in, they found to their dismay 3 

The body gone. Perplexed in the extreme, + 

They suddenly beheld, as in a dream, 
Two men stand by them in apparel bright. 
Whose dazzling presence filled them with affright. 
" Be not afraid ! " one said, " Ye need not fear. ^^f\ 
I know ye Jesus seek ; He is not here ; 
He is already risen, as He said. 

Why do ye seek the living 'mong the dead ? ^^^^. 

Come see the place, most fragrant still and sweet. 
Where lay His blessed head and where His feet. 
Remember how He said to you, when He ° 

Was present with you yet in Galilee : 

*It is here assumed, that when the other women reached the tomb Mary Magdalene 
had already gone to tell Peter and John ; and what is related as happening to them 
took place during her absence. When Mary returned with Peter and John, the other 
women had left. 



334 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Mark 
xvi. 7 



Matt. 



' The Son of Man, delivered to be tried, ^i^^^ 

After mock trial must be crucified, 

And then on the third day must rise again.' 

Yes ! they remembered, and now all was plain. ^ 

" Haste ! " said the angel, " knowing it is true. 

Tell His disciples, and tell Peter too — 

Unable since his fall to lift his head — 

Your buried Lord is risen from the dead, 

And goes before you into Galilee. 

There, He has promised you, )^e Him shall see." 

And they departed quickly, filled with awe ^^jj; g 

And trembling joy at all they heard and saw, 

To go to the disciples. While they yet 

Were on the way, behold, them Jesus met, • ^ 

And said : " All hail ! " Thrilled with that voice so 

sweet. 
They prostrate fell, and held Him by His feet. 
And worshipped Him — but they embrace refrained, 
By mighty awe and reverence restrained. 
He said : " Go, tell My brethren to repair '° 

To Galilee, and I will see them there. 
They went, and told th' apostles and the rest, ^^^^^ 
Who disbelief of their report expressed. " 



JESUS APPEARS TO MARY MAGDALENE. 335 

But, Mary Magdalene, when all had left, l^]'". 

Lingered behind. Of her dear Lord bereft, 
His body taken, she would not despair, 
But push inquiry till she found out where. 
Outside the Sepulchre she weeping stood, 
And, as she wept, the thought sprung up, she would 
Look in once more, and, lo ! there met her sight 
Two Angels seated, robed in dazzling white " 

One at the head, the other at the feet, 
AVhere had the body lain. With accents sweet, "^ 
" Woman ! " they said to her, " wh}^ weepest thou ? " 
" Because they have, I know not where or how. 
Removed my Lord." Her head, then turning, she '+ 
Saw Jesus standing, but knew not 't was He. 
And Jesus said : " Woman ! why dost thou weep ? '5 
Whom seekest thou ? " This man, employed to keep 
The garden, so she thought, can end suspense, 
So said : " O Sir, if thou hast borne Him hence. 
Tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I will 
Take Him away." There shot a mighty thrill '*> 

Of wild delight and wonder through her frame, 
Then when His well-known voice pronounced her 

name : 
*' Mary ! " She turned, and with a joyful shout 



John 
x.x. — 



336 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Towards Him sprang with both her arms stretched 

out, 

Saying : " Rabboni ! " and would on His neck 
Have fallen, had He, her first transports to check, 
Not said : " Embrace Me not !* draw not too near. '? 
Temper thy love with reverence and fear ! 
Worship befits thee ! but the awful bond, 

••• The difficulties which beset this passage have grown, we venture to think, out of 
an error of punctuation, and are mostly or wholly disposed of, by simply placing a 
full stop after "Touch Me not." By this means the words are made to form a sen- 
tence which is complete in itself, having neither syntactical nor logical connection 
with anything that follows. Mary was in the act of throwing her arms around her 
Lord's neck. It was the fault, let us say rather the ecstasy of the moment, and she did 
not need to be told twice the impropriety of the freedom. Nothing seems more in- 
credible, than that our Lord would think it necessary to offer an excuse for not per- 
mitting an embrace whose impropriety was obvious — giving as a reason, that " He 
had not yet ascended to His Father." This would constitute an excellent reason why 
she should hasten to His disciples, having in her possession a piece of information so 
unspeakably interesting and important ; but none, so far as we can see, why she 
should not touch Him. Within the space of a few minutes, either immediately before 
or immediately after, we know that He allowed other women, not only to touch Him, 
but hold Him by His feet. Theirs was an act of worship. He, on that occasion, gave 
no signs of hurry, or impatience at detention. Indeed, we should as soon think of as- 
sociating hurry with the eternities as with the Risen Lord. 

Most strangely, the disciples, notwithstanding declarations the most explicit many 
times repeated, that He would rise again, remained in total ignorance of " what the 
rising from the dead should mean." That it meant that His body was to rise and 
come from the tomb, they had not so much as dreamed. They supposed His words 
were to be understood in some mystic sense, they did not know exactly what. When 
they saw His body taken down from the cross and laid in the sepulchre, they had no 
other thought than that was the end, so far as His life upon the earth was concerned. 
Believing that He had ascended at once to the Father, they never expected to see Him 
again below. It was now the third day since His death ; and to be told that He was 
alive, and still upon the earth — that He had not ascended to the Father yet — would be 
news indeed. But lest they should go to the other extreme, and fall into the error of 
supposing that He intended to remain on the earth to set up His Kingdom in person. 



I HAVE NOT YET ASCENDED. ^-^y 

Forbids familiar touch, and acts too fond. 
For that I would My rising- certif}'-, 
By proofs infallible and many, I 
Flave not ascended to My Father 3-et. 
Go, therefore, to My brethren, now, to set 
Their troubled minds at rest. Tell them I say 
I live again, but am not here to sta}". 

He instructed Mary to say to them, that He was about to ascend, but would see them 
before He did so finally, even as He had promised. Read in the light of these facts — 
with the corrected punctuation, which serves to isolate the words, " Touch Me Not " 
from everything else, as relating to an incident having nothing to do with the com- 
munication which she was to make to the disciples — all is plain and simple. In that 
case the message would run in this wise : " For [or forasmuch as] I am not yet as- 
cended unto My Father, go [now] to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend [after 
forty days?] unto My Father and your Father; and to My God and your God." Or 
some might prefer this reading, which involves no change of words, only the transpo- 
sition of the last member of the sentence, putting it first: "But go to My brethren, 
and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father and unto your Father, and to My God 
and your God ; for I am not yei ascended [bodily?] to My Father.' This preserves 
the " but," w^hich in the other case is rendered " now." 

As it can hardly be claimed that the punctuation is inspired, this slight change — 
which makes easy what has been found so difficult and has led to ten thousand ab- 
surdities of interpretation — is, we think, abundantly justified. The error (if error it 
be, and we cannot doubt it) is undoubtedly an ancient one ; and one naturally wonders 
how it has happened, that so many learned and good men have allowed themselves to 
stumble over so small a pebble. 

His actual stay upon the earth was forty days. Where He was during that time it 
were vain to speculate. He could not fail to be at home anywhere in the universe . 
for were not all things made by Him ? One of the objects of this sojourn (there may 
have been others) was to " shew Himself alive after His passion," and certify to His 
disciples the fact of His bodily resurrection, "by many infallible proofs." In order 
that nothing might be wanting to the completeness of the identification. He preserved 
to Himself the organic sameness of His original body — modified possibly in some of 
its accidents, but essentially unchanged— until the time of His Ascension. It may bo 
that this " body of His humiliation," as the apostle calls it, while it was the only one 
suited to earthly conditions, was at the same time wholly unfitted for heavenly ; and 
this would constitute a reason why He should not assume " the body of His glor.y " 



338 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

I, to My Father and to 3^ ours, ascend, 

M}^ God and your God, when My stay shall end. 

And tell them to return to Galilee, 

And that I there, hereafter, will them see." 

To the disciples she the news conveyed. 

How she had seen the Lord, and what He said. 



Matt, 
xxviii. II 



The guard, into the City having gone, 
Showed to the chief priests all things that were done. 
At the strange tidings, startled and appalled, '^ 

They straight the Sanhedrim together called. 
Which, after counsel, judged it best to pay 
The soldiers a large sum, if they would say. 
That His disciples in the night had crept ^3 

And stole away the body while they slept — 
Pledging to shield them, to allay their fears, 

until the forty days were fully expired. It was important to the proof, that no one 
should be able to say that His appearance were phantasmal, or even like the Theoph- 
anies and Angelophanies recorded in the Old Testament. 

A little common sense is sometimes better than much learning. It is quite marvel- 
ous, how the human mind runs on in the same ever deepening rut of error through 
thousands of years, without putting forth an effort to get out of it. We see this illus- 
trated in false religions ; and, in a small way, we witness something like it in mistakes 
of interpretation. No error however slight is insignificant. A misplaced period may 
be the source of endless perplexity to innumerable minds. The casual omission of 
brackets which ought to have been inserted has been the cause not only of incalcula- 
ble ink-shedding, but blood-shedding likewise. The tenth chapter of Joshua has been 
fruitful of endless logomachies which have not ceased in our day, arising from the 
failure of some ancient transcriber to preserve lines and marks of division, separating 
poetry from prose. See The Evangel, First Part of this Work pp. 324-332, foot-note. 



JOINS TWO ON THEIR WAY TO EMMAUS. 33c) 

In case it reached the procurator's ears. xxvUl'm 

Taking- the bribe, they labored to diffuse '5 

This false report, still current 'mong the Jews. 

And Jesus next Himself to Peter showed. \^°^^- 

That day, as two disciples on the road x^dv^!- 

To Emmaus were journeying, they talked '* 

Of these occurences, and as they walked, 
Discussing matters. He Himself drew near, 's 

.\nd traveled with them their discourse to hear— 
Appearing, for a purpose, in such guise '^ 

As they, at first, should not Hun recognize. 
He said : " What mournful subject have ye had, '^ 
To make you as )^ou walk downcast and sad? " 
" Great things have happened in Jerusalem," '^ 

They answered. " If Thou hast not heard of them 
Thou art the sole sojourner that has not." 
And Jesus said : " What things ? Tell briefly what."'9 
" About Jesus of Nazareth (in fact 
A Prophet, powerful in word and act 
Before the Lord, and all the people). Him, 
Chief priests and others of the Sanhedrim *° 

Condemned to death and crucified. But we 
Trusted 't was He who would set Israel free. « 



340 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Besides all this, this being the third day xxh'"! 

Since these things happened, certain women say, -'■ 

That, going early to the Sepulchre, 

They did not find the body ; and aver ^; 

They Angels saw, who said He was alive. 

From their own eyes assurance to derive, ' = 

Some of our number went, and witness bare 

The tomb was empty, but Him saw nowhere." 

He said, in tones tinged with reproof and grief, '^- 
" O dull of mind, and backward of belief 
Concerning what the prophets testify ! 
Ought not the Christ to suffer and to die =^ 

And pass into His glory through that door. 
Death and the Grave, unbarred forevermore ?" 
Beginning then with Moses, he went on, =*' 

Until through all the prophets He had gone. 
And all the Scriptures opened and explained, 
Which to Himself and Kingdom appertained. 
When to the destined village they drew nigh, ^^ 

It seemed as though He purposed to pass by, 
But they pressed Him to stop, saying, " Abide ^"5 

With us, for it grows late." And He complied. 
As He there lay at meat with them, He took 3° 



THEIR RECOGNITION OF JESUS. 341 

The loaf, blessed, brake, and gave it them. They look. 

They scan His features now with opened eyes, ^.^iv^si 

And all at once their Lord they recognize. 

He disappeared next moment, and they said : 

" In that last act, the breaking of the bread, 

How could we fail the Master to discern ? 

Did not our hearts, moreo'er, within us bum 32 

While He talked with us all along the road, 

And the deep meaning oi the Scriptures showed ?" 

And they rose up that very hour and went 33 

Back to Jerusalem, with the intent 

To tell th' Eleven. These, with the rest, they found 

Assembled, who them greeted with the sound : 

" The Lord is risen indeed, and has been seen 34 

Of Simon." Then they told, how He had been 35 

With them, and how they suddenly were led 

To know Him in the breaking of the bread. 

While they were speaking, Jesus Himself stood, 36 
Though shut and barred the solid doors of wood. 
There in their midst, and said : " Peace be to you !" 
The sight them into consternation threw, 37 

Thinking they saw a spirit. " Why," He said, 38 

** Do doubts arise ? or why are ye afraid ? 



342 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Luke 



See My pierced hands and feet, and know 'tis I. .,^„. ^^ 

Draw near ; My body handle ; test and try, ^o 

Till its identity each doubter owns, 

Knowing a spirit has not flesh and bones." 

When they, for joy and wonder, scarce could be '^^ 

Convinced, He was a dear reality. 

He said for proof: " Have ye not here some meat?" 

i\.nd He before them some broiled fish did eat. ^^ 

Then further spake : " Remember I you told, ^4 

While I was yet with you, that, what of old 

Was in the Law and Prophets said of Me ^s 

And written in the Psalms, fulfilled must be. 

That, in accordance with all prophecies, 

Christ it behooved to suffer, and to rise, ^e 

And that repentance, holy change within, 47 

And the remission of all forms of sin. 

Should, in His name, be confidently preached 

Among all nations, till each soul is reached. 

Beginning at Jerusalem. Since ye *^ 

Are of these things the witnesses to be, '•^ 

The Spirit, promised of the Father, I 49 

Will pour on you, when I ascend on high. 

And He with power will plenteously endue 

Authenticating and attesting you — 



DOUBTING THOMAS CONVINCED. 343 

Great signs shall follow them, who having heard, 
Believe the proclamation in the Word. 
Go ye, My Gospel preach ! go everywhere ! ^If^^^ 
To every creature the glad tidings bear ! 
Who trusts and is baptized, he saved shall be : '^ 

Who trusts not, cannot My salvation see. 
These are the terms on which, by Heaven ordained, 
Men's sins remitted are, or are retained." 1°^^^ 

Thomas, one of the Twelve, called Didyjnus ^+ 

Not there to see, remained incredulous. 
When told by others, " We have seen the Lord ! " ^s 
" I '11 not believe He is to life restored," 
He said, " unless I in His hands shall see - 
Plainly the nail-prints, and "t is granted me 
To put therein my finger, and to guide 
My hand and thrust it in His wounded side." 

When the disciples, after eight days' space, -^ 

Again were met together in one place. 
And Thomas with them, Jesus came, and stood 
There in their midst (shut doors could not exclude), 
And said, " Peace be to you !" Then, Thomas told : -7 
" Reach hither now thy finger, and behold 
My wounded hands ; and hither also guide 



344 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Thy hand, and thrust it in My wounded side ; .^^°^^ 
And be not faithless, but believing." He 
Exclaimed, " My Lord ! my God ! I worship Thee : ^^ 
Great Vanquisher of Death ! I doubt no more, 
Thou art the Christ the ages waited for !" 
" Because thou hast Me seen, thou dost not doubt. =9 
Happy who see not, yet believe without !" 



O FILH ET FlLlJE.— Tra>is/afwn. 
I, 

O sons and daughters, join the lay ! 
The King, all heavenly powers obey, 
Rose Victor from the dead to-day. 
Alleluia ! 

IL 

Upon the first day of the week. 
As dawn began the east to streak, 
Disciples went the tomb to seek. 
Alleluia ! 

III. 
Salome, Mary Magdalene, 

And James's mother — sad in mien — 

Come to embalm Him, there were seen. 

Alleluia ! 



O FILII ET FILI.E.— TRANSLATION. 345 

IV. 
One clothed in white sat at the door, 

Who said : " The Lord is here no more 

To Galilee He goes before." 

Alleluia ! 

V. 

Th' Apostle John, with love as spur, 
His feet, outrunning Peter's, were 
First at the empty sepulchre. 
Alleluia ! 

VI. 

When the Disciples met, appeared 
Christ in their midst, and when they feared. 
Pronouncing "Peace !" their hearts He cheered. 
Alleluia ! 

VII. 

As Didymus, not there to see. 
Was told that Christ had risen, he 
Doubted and thought it could not be. 
Alleluia ! 

VIII. 

" Thomas, behold,'' the Master cried, 
" My hands, my feet, my wounded side, 
And be not faithless, but confide ! " 
Alleluia ! 



346 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



IX. 
When Thomas did as Christ him bade, 

His finger in the nail-prints laid, 

" Thou art my Lord and God," he said. 

Alleluia! 

X. 
Blessed are they who have not seen 

Yet on His word securely lean — 

They shall have endless life serene. 

Alleluia ! 



O filii et filiae, 
Rex ccelestis, Rex gloriae, 
Morte surrexit hodie, 
Alleluia ! 



VI. 

Discipulis astantibus, 
In medio stetit Christus 
Dicens, Pax vobis omnibus. 
Alleluia ! 



Et mane prima Sabbati, 
Ad ostium monumenti 
Accesserunt discipuli. 
Alleluia ! 

III. 
Et Maria Magdalene 
Et Jacobi, et Salome 
Venerunt corpus ungere, 
Alleluia ! 



Ut intellexit Didymus, 

Quia surrexerat Jesus, 

Remansit fere dubius. 

Alleluia ! 

VIII. 

Vide, Thoma, vide latus, 
Vide pedes, vide manus, 
Noli esse incredulus. 
Alleluia 1 



In albis sedens angelus 
Praedixit mulieribus, 
In Galilea est Dominus. 
Alleluia ! 



Quando Thomas vidit Christum, 
Pedes, manus, latus suum, 
Dixit : Tu es Deus meus ■ 
Alleluia ! 



Et Joannes apostolus 
Concurrit Petro citius, 
Monumento venit prius. 
Alleluia ! 



Beati qui non viderunt, 
Et firmiter crediderunt, 
Vitam eternam habebunt. 
Alleluia. 



SURREXIT CHRISTUS HODIE.— TRANSLATION. 



SURREXIT CHRISTUS UODlE.— Trcrns/afwn. 
I. 

For human solace, Christ to-day 
Rose from the dead to live alway, 
Alleluia. 

II. 
Who suffered death, with anguish sore, 
For wretched man two days before. 
Alleluia. 

III. 
Women, His body to perfume, 
Brought gifts of spices to the tomb. 
Alleluia. 

IV. 

Seeking the Lord, with sorrowing mind- 
Who is the Saviour of mankind. 
Alleluia. 

V. 

They saw a white-robed angel there, 
Who did the joj'ful news declare, 
Alleluia. 



347 



348 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

VI. 

" Would you, O trembling women ! see 
The Master, go to Galilee. 
Alleluia. 

VII. 

" To His disciples tell this thing. 
That He is risen, Glory's King.' 
Alleluia. 

VIII. 

He first appeared to Peter, then 
To all of the remaining ten. 
Alleluia. 

IX. 

Thee in this paschal joy we bless, 
Who art the Lord our righteousness. 
Alleluia. 

X. 

Glory to Thee our Sovereign Head, 
Who rose triumphant from the dead. 
Alleluia. 



I. II. 

Surrexit Christus hodie Mortem qui passus pridic 

Humano pro solamine, Miserrimo pro homine, 
Alleluia. Alleluia. 



REX SEMPITERNE CCELITUM.— TRANSLATION. 



349 



HI. 

Mulieres ad tumulum 
Dona ferunt aromatum, 
Alleluia. 

IV. 

Quaerentes Jesum Dominum, 
Qui est Salvator hominum, 
Alleluia. 

V. 

Album cernentes angelum 
Annunciatum gaudium, 
Alleluia. 

VI. 

Mulieres O tremulae, 

In Galilseam pergite, 

Alleluia. 



VII. 

Discipulis hoc dicite, 
Quod surrexit Rex gloriae, 
Alleluia. 

VIII. 

Petro dehinc et cseteris 
Apparuit apostolis, 
Alleluia. 

IX. 

In hoc paschali gaudio, 

Benedicamus Domino, 

Alleluia. 

X. 

Gloria tibi, Domine, 
Qui surrexisii a morte, 
Alleluia. 



This and the foregoing Hymn, of unknown authorship, belong to the thirteenth 
century. The first is preeminently the Easter Hymn. Neale remarks : " It is scarcely 
possible for any one, not acquainted with the melody, to imagine the jubilant effect of 
the triumphant ^ //<?//(■/« attached to the apparently less important circumstances of 
the resurrection, e. g., Peter's being outstripped by John. It seems to speak of the 
majesty of that event, the smallest portions of which are worthy to be so chronicled." 
The rude simplicity of the originals is preserved in the translation. 



REX SEMPITERNE QCSAA-W^Vl.— Translation. 
I. 

Eternal Sovereign of the skies ! 

Maker of all things that are made ! 
Thou wast the Father's equal Son 

Ere were the world's foundations laid. 



II. 
Thou didst, in Thine own image, make, 

After Thy likeness, man at first 

And to His body, formed of clay 

Conjoined a noble spirit erst. 



350 THE J.IGHT OF THE WORLD; 

HI. 
And, when Satanic fraud and spite 
Corrupted had the human race, 
Thou, clothed with flesh, didst mould anew 
The perished beauty and the grace. 

IV. 
Thou, who wast once from Virgin born, 
Art born now from the grave likewise ; 
And Thou commandest that with Thee 
We buried from the dead shall rise. 

V. 

Nailed to the cross, Redeemer, Thou ■» 
To pay our debt didst freely pour 
Thy life-blood out, the price immense, 
Of our salvation evermore. 



I. in. 

Rex sempiterne coelitum, Cum livor et fraus dsemonis, 

Rerum Creator omnium, Fcedasset humanum genus, 

^qualis ante saecula Tu carne amictus perditam 

Semper parenti filius. Formam reformes artifex. 

II. IV. 

Nascente mundi qui faber Qui natus olim et virgine, 

Imaginem vultus tui, Nunc e sepulcro nasceris, 

Tradens Adamo nobilem, Tecumque nos a mortuis, 

Limo jugasti spiritum. Jubes sepultos surgere. 

V. 
Nobis diu qui debitse, 
Redemptor affixus cruci. 
Nostra dedisti prodigu.s, 
Pretium salutis sanguinem. 



THE MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES. 



351 



Then the Eleven returned to Galilee, xJl'ilLig 

Not. doubting they should there again Him see, 
According to His promise. On this wise, ^^^l 

He showed Himself to their adoring eyes 
Peter and Thomas and Nathanael, =* 

With James and John, and other two, as well, 
Were fishing on the Lake, and had all night 3 

Caught nothing. Jesus stood at morning light ^ 

Upon the shore, but they knew not 't was He. 
'• Children, how fare ye ? aught to eat have ye ?" 5 
They answered, " No !" " Cast on the boat's ri^ht 
side 6 

The net, and ye shall find." When they complied, 
The number of the fishes was so great 
They could not draw it, baffled by the weight. 
And John to Peter said : " It is the Lord !" 7 

And he, forgetting all else at that word, 
First girding on, with haste, his outer coat. 
Leaped in the sea. The rest came in the boat, ^ 

Dragging the net, some hundred yards, to shore, 
Filled with thrice fifty fishes and three more — 
And though so many yet was it entire. 
When they were come to land, they saw a fire 9 

Of coals ; a fish there lying ; and some bread. 



352 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

" Bring ye the fishes ye have caught," He said. J^^^^ 
The broihng done, and everything prepared, 
He said : " Come, break your fast !" But no one 
dared " 

To ask their Entertainer, ' Who art Thou ?' 
Knowing it was the Lord. He gave them now '3 
The bread and fish — His Providence seen then. 
At other times invisible to men. 

When they had breakfasted, the Risen One ^5 

To Simon Peter spake : " Say, Simon, son 
Of Jonas, dost thou care* for me above 
All these ?" "Yea, Lord, Thou knowest I Thee love." 
Jesus said: "Feed My lambs!" "But, Simon, dost '^ 
Thou care much for Me ?" " I no more dare boast 
Like the vain braggart of some days ago 
But that. Dear Lord, I love Thee Thou dost know." 
Jesus said : "Tend My sheep !" A third time He '7 
Asked: " Simon, son of Jonas, lov'st thou Me?" 

* An imperfect attempt is here made to preserve the distinction between two Greek 
words, ayaKilui and (piTiEU, lost in our English version, both being indifferently 
translated 'to love.' The first answers to the l^^iirx dzli^o, ' to esteem highly ' ; the 
other to amo, ' to love.' The sentiment expressed in the last is thought to be warmer, 
partaking more of passion than the first. It is remarkable that our Lord in addressing 
Peter, the first two times, used the colder term ; and it was only in His third inquiry 
that he employed the more endearing form. So there are two Greek words, one 
meaning " to feed " properly; the other e.xpressing "care and tendance," but ren- 
dered into English by a common word, " to feed." 



SIMON PETER, LOVEST THOU ME? 353 

Peter was grieved because He three times said, ^^^^^ 

" Lovest thou Me," — and so appeal he made : 

" Thou knowest all things, and Thou, Lord, dost know 

Despite my base denial, it is so. 

That my love for Thee is sincere and deep.' 

And Jesus said : " To prove it, Feed My sheep ! 

" Is the wound tender ? Make I thee to wince. 
Probing thy hurt ? Thus I My love evince — 
'T is for thy good I cause thee present pain, 
Lest slightly healed, the sore break out again. 
The lesson of thy fall must not be lost, 
Purchased by thee at such a dreadful cost — 
Sad warning 'gainst self-confidence and pride : 
Clothed with humility, thou shalt abide 
Firm to the end. I speak a faithful word : 
When thou wast young, thou didst thy own self 
gird, '^ 

And, wheresoe'er thou wouldst, thou wentest — free 
To come and go — but when thou old shalt be, 
Thou shalt stretch forth involuntary hands. 
And thee another gird, and bind with bands, 
And make thee tread the path thy Master trod. 
By crucifixion glorifying God." ^ 

23 



354 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



Having thus spoken, He said, " Follow* Me, J°^"L 

As now I walk before. My footprints see. 

And plant thy feet where My own feet have been. 

Hereby thy duty's symbolized and seen : 

I leave thee My example : Follow on ! 

When Peter, turning, saw th' apostle John ^° 

Walking behind, in the same footmarks, too. 

He, curious, said : " Lord ! what shall this man do?''^' 

He said ; " If I so will, what 's that to thee, " 

That he should wait My coming? Follow Me !'' 

Among the brethren a belief thereby 

Grew up, that that disciple should not die. ^3 

After this, Jesus by appointment, showed xxvUi"i6 
Himself alive, in a more public mode, 
Upon a Mount He named in Galilee. 
Beside th' Eleven, there present were to see 
Above five hundred brethren. When they knew ^v^e" 

*Some commentators suppose, that Jesus intended only a spiritual following, but 
that, just then, being in the act of leaving them, Peter understood Him literally 
(thinking he was invited to a private conference), and followed Him accordingly^ 
We, on the contrary, assume, that He meant to symbolize by significant bodily acts 
the duty of an exact imitation of his example in life and death. That Peter never for- 
got the lesson appears from i Peter ii. 21. 

All the Apostles prior to Christ's death had been comparatively ignorant and weak. 
Never, probably, in the history of mankind, was there wrought so mighty a transfor- 
mation as took place in them afterwards, more particularly after they had received the 
promised gift of the Holy Ghost. They were no longer the same men, either intel- 
lectually or morally. But, even then, how unlike their Master? 



BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST PROMISED. 355 

Their Risen Saviour, standing in full view, xx'^vHi"'!; 
They worshipped Him, He said : " To Me is given 
Supreme authority in earth and heaven. '^ 

Go ye, therefore, convert and christianize *9 

All nations of the earth, and them baptize 
Into the Godhead of the Father, Son, 
And Holy Ghost, th' Eternal Three in One ! 
Teaching them to observe, and all things do "^ 

Which, heretofore, I have commanded you. 
And, lo ! I'm with you alway — still your Friend, 
Helper, Upholder, even to the end." 

He next was seen of James, then all th' Eleven, '^v"; 
By proofs infallible and many given, ^"^'^ 

Showing Himself alive to their rapt gaze 
After His Passion, during forty days. 
And speaking of the things that appertain 
To God's dear Kingdom and Messiah's Reign. 

The day of Pentecost at hand, with them 
Once more assembled at Jerusalem, 
He charged them there to wait, and not to leave 
Till they the Father's " Promise " should receive — 
The mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost — 
To'be poured out in a few days at most. 



I- 3 



356 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Again convened, they asked Him : *' Lord, wilt 
Thou A"^s 

Restore to Israel the kingdom now ?" 
He said : " Ye seek to know what is concealed, ^ 

The times and seasons are things unrevealed, 
The Father these has put in His own power — 
Divine fulfillments wait their proper hour. 
But ye '11 new powers receive, and functions new : ^ 
For when the Holy Ghost is come on you. 
Ye then shall be My witnesses to them 
Who were My murderers in Jerusalem, 
And testify of Me in every place — 
The willing Saviour of the human race." 

He led them forth then, after these commands, xxiv^% 
To Bethany ; and lifting up His hands si 

He blessed them ; and, with wondering dazed eyes, 
Through the still air they saw His body rise — 
Not needing wings — till in th' ethereal height 
A waiting cloud received Him out oi sight. 
He, passing through the portals of the sky. 
Sat down at the right hand of God on high. 



PORTAS VESTRAS ^TERNALES.— TRANSLATION. 357 



PORTAS VESTRAS JETERN ALES.— Tmns/adon. 
I. 

Lift ye up the eternal portals, 
O ye high and hlest immortals ! 

Heavenly doors wide open swing. 
Comes the Lord of Angels straightway, 
Nears the everlasting gateway. 

Lift ye up, admit your King ! 

II. 
Joyful He, all white and ruddy, 
Lo, He comes from conquest bloody, 

Bright in vestments purple dyed, 
Glorious in His raiment holy, 
Marching in His own strength solely, 

Many thousands by His side. 

III. 
All alone and unattended, 
Forth from Heaven His way He wended ; 

But returning, many brings — 
Fruit of His divine affection. 
Of His death and resurrection. 

Crop of heavenly harvestings. 



358 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

IV. 

Joy ye in the God of Zion ! 
Conquered hath His foes, the Lion, 

Seed of Abraham, triumphed hath. 
Ruins earth no more shall cumber, 
Heaven shall be increased in number, 

Guilty souls be saved from wrath. 

V. 
May He reign, the Vindicator, 

Christ of men, the Liberator, 

King of Mercy, Prince of Peace, 
God Most Mighty, Life-bestower, 
And of death the Overthrower, 
May His praises never cease ! 
I. III. 

Portas vestras seternales Solus erat in egressu 

Triumphales, principales, Sed ingentem regressu 

Angeli, attollite, Affert multitudinem. 

Eja, tollite actutum, Fructum suae passionis 

Venit Dominus virtutum, Testum resurrectionis 

Rex seterncB gloriae. Novam cceli segetem. 

II. IV. 

Venit totus laetabundus, Eja, jubilate Deo, 

Candidus et rubicundus, Jacent hostes, vicit leo 

Tinctis clarus vestibus. Vicit semen Abrahae. 

Nova gloriosus stola Jam ruinse replebuntur 

Gradiens virtute sola Coeli civis augebuntur 

Multis cinctus millibus. Salvabuntur animae. 

V. 

Regnet Christus triumphator 

Hominumque liberator 

Rex misericordiae. 

Princeps pacis, Deus fortis. 

Vitse dator, victor mortis, 

Laus ccelestis curiae. 



THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 359 



Acts 
ii. I 



1. 15 



Acts 11 1-38. 

The aay of Pentecost now fully come — 
End of the numbered weeks completed sum, 
Ten days from the Ascension of our Lord — 
As the disciples were with one accord 
( Six score about ) assembled in one place, 
Waiting in prayer before the Throne of Grace, 
All suddenly a sound from Heaven there came, "• ^ 
Like a strong rushing wind, and tongues of flame 3 
Divided sat on each, while everywhere 
Was interfused in air a God-breathed air, * 

Filling the house, and filling all the lungs — 
And they began to speak in foreign tongues. 

Men from all lands astonished gathered round, s 

Attracted by the miracle of sound — 
Strange pulsings of that inner atmosphere 
With modulations varied to each ear. 
So that each spoken word was understood 
By all that polyglottous multitude. 
" What meaneth this ?" they said — " we hear them 
teach 7 

God's wondrous doings in our native speech." ^ 

But others said, jocosely : " We mistrust ^3 



360 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



These men have drunk too freely of sweet must." * 

But Peter, standing up with the Eleven, ^^l^^ 

With loud voice spake beneath the open heaven : 

" Men of Judea ! and, all ye who dwell 

Here in Jerusalem ! hearken, while I tell, 

These are not drunk, as ye assume and say, "s 

Since it is but the third hour of the day. 

But this is what the prophet Joel meant— ^^ 

Being fulfillment and accomplishment 

* The word here rendered " new wine" is in the original Greek, yZei;A:oiif:=^/^2/- 
ious. The meaning assigned to it in the Greek Lexicon ismust. It is so rendered in 
the Vulgate. These Pentecostal mockers evidently used it in that sense. To under- 
stand them otherwise were to miss the point of their sarcasm. They thought it was 
severely funny to ascribe (ironically, of course) impossible effects to simple grape 
juice. Could we have overheard their talk among themselves, it would probably 
have been much after this fashion : " These men are drunk ; but being good men, it is 
not permitted us to think, that they would drink anything stronger than water, or 
must, at most; and so, if found intoxicated, it cannot be due to any fault of theirs, 
but has resulted from some unaccountable perversity in the operation of an innocent 
beverage "• — the jibe, having its counterpart in modern slang, which imputes to excess 
of sweet cider, or soda water, antiphrastically, great intoxicating powers. 

This would pass with them for wit, and raise a laugh, which would be sure to have 
been renewed, culminating in loud explosions of laughter, had any one present, 
with a grave face and an aspect of profound wisdom, denied the possibility of water 
or must making any one drunk, and had insisted, therefore, that it must have been 
some fermented article. They little thought, that two thousand years afterwards, 
learned men, through failure to appreciate their sorry joke, would feel it incumbent 
on them to show that "gleukos" was a very intoxicating liquor y ca.using a peculiar 
ki)ido/drunkennessy distinguishable from every other — for unless distinguishable, how 
should they know that it vias gleukos that made them drunk rather than something 
else. This however is only one of many illustrations of the truth of what Shakespeare 
says: 

" A jest's prosperity lies in the ear 

Of him that hears it, never in the tongue 

Of him that makes it." 



PETER'S PENTECOSTAL DISCOURSE. 361 

Of the sure word of ancient prophecy, j^*^^ 

Concerning what in the Last Days should be : '? 

*' I will," God said, " My Spirit pour out, then, 

Upon the daughters and the sons of men, ^^ 

And they shall prophecy— and one and all 

Shall then be saved, who on the Lord shall call. =' 

Ye men of Israel, to me give ear ! 

Jesus of Nazareth — by proofs most clear. 

By miracles and signs and wonders shown. 

Among you wrought, and, therefore, to you known 

To be the power of God — Him up being given, ^3 

By the foreknowledge and the will of Heaven, 

Ye wickedly did crucify and slay ; 

Whom God raised from the dead on the third day — ^4 

Loosing the bands inviolate of old — 

For 't was not possible Him death should hold. 

For David in His name speaks in one place : =5 

' I aye the Lord beheld before My face ; 

For He 's on My right hand ; My heart, therefore. 

Was glad ; My tongue rejoiced. My flesh, moreo'er,^^ 

Shall also dwell in hope, because, that Thou ^7 

Wilt not My soul in Hades leave, nor wilt allow 

Thy Holy One to see corruption? Let *9 



362 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Me say, that David died, and we have yet ^^!f_ 

His tomb with us. Being a prophet, he, 3° 

Knowing that God hath sworn, that there should be 

One from his loins to sit upon his throne, 

In dignity surpassing far his own, 

Spake with a foresight that the end sufficed. 

Touching the resurrection of the Christ — 31 

His soul was not in Hades left, nor did 

His flesh corruption see, as thing forbid. 

This Jesus, God raised up, whereof we are 32 

All witnesses. Being exalted, far 33 

Above the highest heaven, to God's right hand. 

Clothed with supreme dominion and command. 

And having of the Father (all achieved) 

The promise of the Holy Ghost received, 

He hath poured forth this which ye see and hear. 

For David further saith, with meaning clear: 34 

" The Lord to my Lord said : " Sit in repose 

On my right hand, until I make Thy foes 35 

Thy footstool ! Let the house of Israel 36 

Be certain, therefore, of the truth I tell — 

This Jesus, whom ye lately crucified. 

Hath God made Christ and Sovereign Lord beside." 



"•37 



VENI, CREATOR SPIRITUS.— TRANSLATION. 363 

While he was speaking, pricked in heart, there 
spread ^"^^^ 

Through the vast multitude a solemn dread ; 
And, at the end, from lips of pallid hue 
Arose the cry : " What, brethren, shall we do ?" 
And Peter said : " Repent, and be baptized 
In Jesus' name, for thus is symbolized 
Remission of offences against Heaven, 
So shall the Holy Ghost to you be given. 
Then Avere baptized, all who the word believed, 
Three thousand being on that day received. 



VENI, CREATOR SPrRlTU S.— Trans/aiiofi. 
I. 

Creator Spirit, come ! 

Thy praying people wait ; 
Fill with Thyself and make Thy home 

In breasts Thou didst create. 

II. 
Thou Gift of God above ! 
Our Paraclete Thou art — 



3^4 



THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

The Living Fount, the Fire, the Love, 
The Breath that sets apart. 

in. 
With sevenfold grace endue : 

Finger of God here reach : 
Thou, Promise of the Father, who 

Dost throats enrich with speech. 

IV. 
Kindle a light within : 

Love in our bosoms pour, 
Strengthen our weakness, purge our sin, 

Make steadfast evermore. 

V. 
The enemy drive far : 

Give peace to every one : 
Be Thou our Leader in the war, 

That we all ill may shun. 

VI. 

May we the Father know, 

And know the Son through Thee, 

Believe Thou art of both, and so 
Forevermore wilt be. 



VENI, CREATOR SPIRITUS.— TRANSLATION. 



365 



VII. 

Let praise to Father, Son, 
And Paraclete be said ! 

And may there be on everyone 
The Spirit's charism* shed ! 



Veni, Creator Spiritus, 
Mentes tuorum visita, 
Imple superna gratia 
Quae tu creasti pectora. 



Accende lumen sensibus, 
Infunde amorem cordibus, 
Infirma nostri corporis 
Virtute firmans perpete. 



Qui Paraclitus diceris, 
Altissimi donum Dei, 
Fons vivus, ignis, caritas, 
Et spijitalis unctio. 



Hostem repellas longius, 
Pacemque dones protinus, 
Ductore sic te prsevio 
Vitemus omne noxium. 



Tu septiformis munere, 
Dextrae Dei tu digitus, 
Tu rite promissum Patris 
Sermone ditans guttura. 



Per te sciamus, da, Patrem, 
Noscamus atque Filium, 
Te utriusque Spiritum 
Credamus omni tempore. 



Sit laus Patri cum Filio, 
Sancto simul Paraclito, 
Nobisque mittat Filius, 
Charisma Sancto Spiritus. 



♦Charism (Gi. darist>ia,a.gi{t). A miraculous gift, f.^., asof healing, of tongues, etc. 



TJo6 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 



VENI, CREATOR ?>V\^YT\}'$,.— Paraphrased. 
I. 

Creator Spirit, who didst brood 
Above the watery soUtude, 
And shoot into abysmal night 
The blessed beams of life and light, 
Whence worlds on worlds in beauty rose 
To fill the void, and at the close 
Didst fashion man above the rest 
To make a Temple of his breast — 
O come, inhabit it once more, 
Its pristine purity restore ! 

II. 

Thou, who art called the Paraclete— 
Of highest God the Gift most sweet — 
The Living Fount that gushes free, 
Upspringing to eternity ; 
The Fire that warms and purifies ; 
The Love that antedates the skies ; 



VENI, CREATOR SPIRITUS.— PARAPHRASED. 367 

The Unction and the Breath Divine 
That consecrate and make us Thine, — . 
Come, visit us, come, Holy Ghost ! 
And let us be Thy honored host. 

III. 
Sevenfold the gifts Thou dost dispense, 
Finger of God's omnipotence ! 
Before the might Thou dost supply, 
The unresisting demons fly, 
The sick, by a swift miracle, 
Thou makest in a moment well : 
The Promise of the Father, sent 
To make throats rich and opulent 
With the divinity of speech 
And power in various tongues to teach. 

IV. 

Light in our darkened senses dart ; 

Love shed abroad in every heart ; 

The frailties of our body aid — 

By virtue strengthened and upstayed ; 

The enemy of souls repel ; 

Let peace henceforth within us dwell ; 



368 THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 

Be Thou our Leader and our Guide, 
Nor suffer us to turn aside ; 
Against our treacherous hearts defend, 
And be our Advocate and Friend ! 



V, 

Both from the Father and the Son 
Thou dost proceed, for God is One. 
Help us to apprehend through Thee 
The dearness of the Trinity : 
With interceding groans and cries 
Let our doxologies arise, 
And with a pathos all their own 
Plead for us at th' Eternal Throne. 
We Father, Son and Thee adore — 
The Triune God forevermore. 



TEXTUAL INDEX 



OLD TESTAMENT. 



Chap. 



Page. 



GENESIS. 



i. 


26 


Evangel. 


m 


15 


" 


Vll. 


11-17 


" 


xi 


9-1 1 


L. of Vv^. 


XUl. 


10 


Evangel. 


XIV. 


3-10 




XVUl. 


2, 22 




XIX. 


24, 25 
30 




xxu. 


iS 




xxiii. 


19 




xxxii. 


i-ii 
22, 23 
24, 30 




xl. 


9-11 




xli. 


43 




xlix. 


10 





13, 14 

49 
144 
284 
129 
130, 140 

22 
129 
270 

50 
270 

258, 259 
262-264 

22 
232 

82 
50, 57 



EXODUS. 



xii. 


8-20 


Evangel. 


XUl. 


2, 14-16 


" 


xviu. 


13-24 


' ' 


XIX. 




" 


XXV. 




' * 



226 

70, 71 
292, 293 
2q8 



LEVITICUS. 





] 
II Evangel. 


VUl. 


6-12 " 


Xll. 


2-8 



Chap. 



Verse. Volume. 



Patrc. 



xvi. 
xviii. 

XX. 

xxiv. 



10 
21 

2-5 
16 



Evangel 



141 

276 

276 

67 



NUMBERS. 



vi. 


2 

3 


Evangel 


xni. 


16 




xxi. 


21, 23 




XXll. 


I, 2-28 




XXVU. 


8, 10 




XXIX. 


2-18 




xxxii. 


1-26 





226-229 

234 

65 

250, 259 
290, 310 
27 

299-310 

250 



DEUTERONOMY. 




JOSHUA. 



230 




1 

I, 5, 9 Evangel. 


122, 123 


11. 


1-22 " 1 


71, 72 


111. 


2-16 " 



311 

3II-3I2 
312, 317 



24 



370 



TEXTUAL INDEX. 



Chap. ! 


Verse. 


Volume. 


Page. 


Chap. 


Verse. 


Volume. 


Page. 


iv. 


I-19 


Evangel. 


317 


X. 


I, 2 


Evangel. 


290, 291 


V. 


I-15 




315-319 


xi. 


1-14 






291, 292 




13-16 




22 


xii. 


I. 12, 23 






291, 292 


vi. 


I-19 




319. 321 


xiii. 


6 






270 


vii. 


1-26 




320-322 


XV. 


22, 23 






286 


viii. 


I 




322 


xvi. 


I, 10 






187, 294 


ix. 


3-16 




322 


xix. 


22 






187-189 


X. 


1-43 




322-328 


xxii. 


I 






270 


xi. 


1-23 




328-332 


xxiii. 


25 






270 


xxii. 


1-6 
31 




332, 333 
334 


xxiv. 


3 






270 


xxiv. 




II SAMUEL. 






JUDGES. 












i. 


17-27 


Evangel. 












326 


ii. 


11-21 


Evangel. 


335, 336 


ii. 


4-17 






348, 260 


iii. 


5, 31 




336, 337 


iii. 


I 






348 


iv. 


1-23 




337-340 


iv. 


5-12 






348 


V. 


1-31 




339. 340 


V. 


3-9 






348, 349 




16, 17 




259 


vi. 


2-15 






349 


vi." 


1-32 




264-272 


vii. 


2-13 






352 




2 




269 


xvii. 


24 






260 




20 




326 

340 


xviii. 


9, 14, 33 






261, 262 


v-xv. 








viii. 


1-28 




269-272 




I KINGS. 




X. 


6-1 1 




272, 273 








xi. 


1-45 




274-282 










xii. 


1-16 




288, 289 


iv. 


33 


Evangel 


244, 245 


xvi. 


I, 5.6 




343 


viii. 


3-39 






352-355 


xvii. 


6 




283 


X. 


II. 43 






356 


xxi. 


25 




283 


xi. 


31, 33 
1-43 






361 

355. 356 










RUTH. 




xii. 

XV. 


1-32 
29 






357, 358 
361 


















xviii. 


4-13 






270 


i. 


1-21 


Evangel. 


343-348 


xix. 


14-18 






358, 359 

359. 360 








xxii. 


29-37 








I SAMUEL. 




xxvii. 

xxviii. 


6 

I 






361 
362 




3-1 1 


Evangel. 


340, 341 




iv. 




II KINGS. 




V. 


I-IO 


" 


341. 342 








vi. 


1-21 


" 


342 










xii. 


I, 2 


" 


343 


xvii. 




L. of W. 


20 


ix. 


1-15 


" 


294 













TEXTUAL INDEX. 



371 



Chap. 



Verse. 



Page. 



I CHRONICLES. 


vi. 8-15 


Evangel 


260 


II CHRONICLES. 


xxxvi. 17-19 Evangel. 


364 


JOB. 



XXX. 

xxxi. 

xl. 



5.6 
26-28 


Evangel. 


23 


" 



270 
272 
129 



PSALMS. 



1. 

viii. 

xxii. 
xxiii. 
xxiv. 

xxxvii. 

xliii. 

li. 

Iv. 

lix. 

Iv. 

Ixii. 

Ixviii. 

Ixix 
Ixxii. 

Ixxiii, 

xcvi. 

cv. 

cvi 

cix. 

ex 

cxxxii 

cxxxiii 

cxxxvi 

cxxxvii 



Trans. 


L. of W. 


3 


Evangel. 


12 


,, 


7 
3-8 


<■ 


12 


" 


1-7 
Trans. 


L. of W. 


15 
9 


Evangel. 
L. of W. 


6-8 


" 


7-10 
15. 16 


Evangel. 


22 


L. of W. 


20 


" 


12 


" 


17 
11-14 


Evangel. 
L. of W. 


10 


" 


27 

35-3S 


.< 


1-5 

I 
1-8 


Evangel. 
L. of W. 


I 


Evangel. 


I 


" 



96, 97 
39. 60 
237 
248, 249 

54 

351 

74. 75 

262 
116, 117 

140 

236 

260 
165, 167 

236 

363 

323 

3" 
51 
265, 266 

329 

295-2 

276 
315, 316 

51 
350, 351 
289, 290 

252-257 

365 ! 



Chap. Verse. Volume. 



Page. 





PROVERBS. 


vii. 


5 


L. of W. 


viu. 


12 

Note. 
22, 31 


Evangel. 


XX. 






xxni. 
xxxiii. 


29-35 
4. 5 





83 

225 
225 

91, 92 

212-217 

212-2X8 
212-218 



ECCLESIASTES. 



4-6 

T, 2 



Evangel 



244 
381 



SONG OF SOLOMON. 




238-248 
238-248 
238-241 
238-248 
238-248 
238-248 



ISAIAH. 



ii. 


12- 13 


Evangel. 


237 


VII. 


14 


" 


5 


viu. 


14 


" 


74. 75 


IX. 


4-6 


" 


268, 269 


xin. 


8 


" 


189 




10 


L. of W. 


262 


xxiv. 


23 


" 


262 


XXV. 


7 


Evangel. 


74 


XXVlll. 


15-18 


" 


285 


XXX 


33 


" 


140 


XXXlll. 


9 


" 


238 


XXXIV. 


4 


L. of W. 


260 


xl. 


3 


Evangel 


363. 364 


xli. 


2 


" 


79 


xliv. 


23-28 


" 


365 


xlv. 


I. 7 


" 


81 


xlvi. 


2 


" 


79 


1. 


6 


L. of W. 


303 


li. 


2-11 


Evangel. 


363 


111. 


7 


" 


366 


\k. 


I. 2, 3 


" 


76 



372 



TEXTUAL INDEX. 



Chap. 



Verse. Volume. 



Page. 



JEREMIAH. 





19 


Evangel. 


vu. 


II 




VIU. 


22 




XXlll. 


6 




XXIX. 


lO 




xxxn. 


35 




xliii. 


13 




xlix. 


i6 






EZEKIEL. 



viii. 


i6 


Evangel. 


XXVll. 


5,6 


" 


XXXIV. 


23, 24 


" 


.XXXIX 


II, i8 


" 


xlvii. 


6, 8 


" 



236 

237 
51 
237, 238 
132, 138 



DANIEL. 



ii. 


24 


L. of W. 


vii. 


13, 14 




IX. 


25 


** 




24-27 


Evangel. 




OBADIAH. 



i. 1 3,4 Evangel. 270 



JONAH. 



ii. 2-6 Evangel. 124, 125 



Chap. 



Verse. 



Volume. Paffc. 



MICAH. 



v. 
vi. 


2-6 

2 

6-8 

5-8 


Evangel. 


iv. 


6, 7 


L. of W. 



270 

52 
286, 287 
303 

5 



NAHUM. 



Evangel 



238 



HABAKKUK. 



ii 15 Evangel! 219 



HAGGAI. 



7 
3-9 



Evangel 



51 
366 



ZECHARIAH. 



12, 13 
12 



Evangel. 
L. of W. 



51 

278 



MALACHI. 



5,6 
5,6 



Evangel 



112 
171 



TEXTUAL INDEX. 



2)71 



NEW TESTAMENT. 



Chap. 


Verse. 


Volume. 


Page. 


Chap. 


Verse. 


Volume. 


Page. 






3-12 


L. of W. 






MATTHEW. 




100, 103 










58 
55 


Evangel. 


34 


i 








102, 103 


• 1 
1. 


I-I7 


Evangel. 


26-28 


xiv. 


3-12 


L. of W. 


100, 103 




18-25 


" 


42, 43 




I 




308 




21 


" 


65-69 




6-10 


Evangel 


283 


ii. 


1-23 


" 


77-90 




13-36 


L. of W. 


149-153 


iii. 


1-12 


" 


104-119 


XV. 


1-38 


' ' 


159-164 




13-17 


" 


120-141 


xvi. 


15. 19 


Evangel. 


177-181 




12 


L. of W. 


8 




13-23 


L. of W. 


66, 167 


iv. 


i-ii 


Evangel. 


142-169 


xvii. 


1-21 


" 


167, 170 




12-16 


* * 


234-240 


xviii. 


1-35 


* * 


172, 175 




13-22 


L. of W. 


38-43 




8, Note. 


" 


162 




17 


" 


30 




18 


Evangel. 


179, 181 


V. 


1-48 


" 


75-87 


xix. 


13-30 


L. of W. 


225-228 




33. 37 


Evangel. 


284, 285 


XX. 


1-16 


" 


228-230 


vi. 


5-15 


" 


372-385 




17-34 


" 


231-233 




1-34 


L. of W. 


87-92 




28 


Evangel. 


loi, 102 


vii. 


23 


Evangel. 


120-125 


xxi. 


1-17 


L. of W. 


237-240 




1-29 


L. of W. 


92-96 




28-46 


" 


242-244 


viii. 


29 


Evangel. 


187-191 




29-32 


Evangel. 


109 




I, 5-13 


L. of W. 


98, 99 


xxii. 


41-45 


" 


51 




14-17 


" 


44-50 




15-46 


L. of W. 


245-247 




2-4 


" 


50, 51 


xxiii. 


1-39 


" 


248-254 




18-34 


" 


135-139 




35 


Evangel. 


83 


ix. 


2-8 


" 


51-55 


xxiv. 


1-51 


L. of W. 


256-267 




9-17 


" 


55-60 




34, Note 


" 


209 




I, 18-35 


* ' 


139-149 


XXV. 


1-46 


" 


267-272 


X. 


I, 5-39 


" 


143-149 




12, Note 


Evangel. 


120, 121 




34-36 


Evangel. 


75 


xxvi. 


1-29 


L. of W. 


276-284 


xi. 


I 


L. of W. 


149 




17-29 


Evangel. 


226-228 




2-19 


" 


103-109 




30-75 


L. of W. 


295-303 




25-27 


Evangel. 


92, 93 




53 


Evangel. 


277, 278 




27 


" 


121-125 


xxvii. 


1-30 


L. of W. 


310-316 


xii. 


1-21 


L. of W. 


69, 72 




31-66 


" 


317-327 




24-50 


" 


118-124 




3 


Evangel. 


109 




46-50 


Evangel. 


197, 198 


xxviii. 


1-20 


L. of W. 


331-351 




Note. 


" 


186 




19 


" 




xiii. 


1-52 


L. of W. 


128-134 




18-20 


Evangel. 


166, 118 



374 



TEXTUAL INDEX. 



Chap. 


Verse. 


Volume. 


Page. 


1 
Chap. 1 


Verse. 


Volume. I 


Page.' 








LUKE. 






MARK. 










i. 


5-25 
26-56 


Evangel. 


29-35 




1 






35-42 


i. 


1-8 


Evangel. 


104, 119 




57-80 


" 


44-48 




12, 13 


" 


142-169 




31 


" 


65-69 




35 


" 


236 




15, ^■ 


* * 


230 




38 


L. of W. 


30 


ii. 


1-7 


" 


55-58 




16-20 


" 


39-43 




8-20 


" 


58-62 




21-45 


" 


44-51 




21 


' ' 


65-69 


ii. 


1-12 


Evangel. 


369-371 




22-29 


" 


71-76 




16, 17 


" 


214 




52 


' * 


91-93 




27, 28 


" 


292, 293 




41-51 


* * 


94-103 




1-12 


L. of W. 


51-53 




42, N. 


" 


2 




13-28 


" 


55-70 


iii. 


1-18 


" 


IO4-II9 


iii. 


31-35 


Evangel. 


195, 197 




23-38 


" 


26-28 




Note. 


, , 


186 




23 


** 


140, 141 




1-12 


L. of W. 


70-72 


iv. 


1-13 


" 


142-169 




13-19 


" 


75 




15 


L. of W. 


30-36 




19-35 


" 


118-124 




31-44 


** 


44-50 


iv. 


1-32 


" 


128-132 


V. 


i-ii 


* ' 


43 




35-41 


L. of W. 


135. 136 




12-26 


* ' 


50-53 


V. 


20-43 


" 


136-142 




27-39 


* * 


55-60 




3 


Evangel. 


270 


vi. 


i-ii 


* * 


69, 70 


vi. 


6-13 


L. of W. 


143, 144 




12-49 


** 


75-96 




21-27 


" 


100-103 


vii. 


24, 25 


* * 


47. 48 




30-56 


" 


149-153 




1-17 


* * 


98-ico 


vii. 


1-37 


" 


159-163 




18-35 


*' 


103-109 


viii. 


I-IO 


" 


163, 164 




36-50 


* * 


109-115 




27-30 


" 


165, 166 


viii. 


19-21 


Evangel. 


195-198 


ix. 


2-29 


" 


167-170 




Note. 


*' 


186 




30, 33-50 


" 


172, 173 




1-3 


L. of W. 


114-118 




49 


" 


78 




3 


*' 


308 


X. 


I 


" 


211 




4-15 


' ' 


128, 130 




13-52 


" 


225-233 




19-21 


* * 


124 


xi. 


1-33 


" 


238-242 




22-56 


* * 


135-142 


xii. 


1-44 




242-254 


ix. 


23 


Evangel. 


216 


xiii. 


1-37 




256-267 




1-6 


L. of W. 


143-144 


xiv. 


1-25 




276-284 




6 


" 


149 




26-72 




295-304 




10-17 


* * 


149-151 


XV. 


1-19 




306-317 




28-62 


" 


167-176 




20-47 




317-327 


X. 


13 


Evangel. 


161-164 


xvi. 


1-20 


' ' 


331-351 




21-23 


* * 


92-93 




15 


1 


6 




15 


" 


244 



TEXTUAL INDEX. 



375 



Chap. 


Verse. 


Volume. 


Page. 


Chap. 


Verse. 


Volume. 


Page. 




I, 17-20 


L. of W. 


^75, 176 




17 


Evangel. 


366 




25-42 


" 


182-185 




13-21 


" 


367-369 


xi. 


27, 28 


Evangel. 


195-198 




■ 23-25 


L. of W. 


I, 2 




Note. 


" 


186 




8 




208 




13 


L. of W. 


8 


iii. 


3 


Evangel 


21 




14-36 


" 


118 




16 


" 


18 




27 


" 


124 




1-21 


L. of W. 


3-10 


xii. 


I 


" 


124, 125 




3-6 


" 


206 




13-21 


" 


125 




22-36 


" 


14-16 


xiii. 


32 


Evangel. 


105 j 


iv. 


14 


" 


8 




25-27, N. 


" 


120-123 




1-42 


" 


19-27 




1-9 


L. of W. 


126, 127 




21-23 


" 


27, 28 




22-35 


' * 


211, 212 




43-54 


" 


29, 30 


xiv. 


5-24 


" 


212-214 


V. 


15-21 


* * - 


149-153 


XV. 


1-32 


* * 


214-218 1 




32 


" 


207 


xvi. 


1-3 1 


" 


220-223 




19 


Evangel. 


209 


xvii. 


20, 21 


" 


6 




I 


L. of W. 


2 




12-18 


" 


176, 177 




1-47 


" 


60-68 


xviii. 


16, 17 


Evangel. 


92, 93 


vi. 


42 


Evangel. 


21 




1-8 


L. of W. 


224, 225 




5-21 


L. of W. 


150, 151 




15-30 


" 


231-233 




22-69 


" 


153-157 


xix. 


46 


Evangel. 


367 




39. 40 


" 


207 




1-44 


L. of W. 


233-240 


vii. 


5, 13 


Evangel. 


236 


XX. 


20-47 


" 


245-248 




I 


L. of W. 


2 


xxi. 


20, .\^ 


Evangel. 






8-52 


" 


177-179 




1-36 


L. of W. 


254-257 


viii. 


37 


Evangel. 


75 


xxii. 


31.32,40 


Evangel. 


218 




58, N. 


L. of W. 


258 




7-20 


" 


226 




1-59 


" 


179-181 




1-20 


L. of W. 


276-284 i 


ix. 


1-41 


" 


185-189 




39-71 


' ' 


295-304 


X. 


1-42 


" 


189-193 


xxiii. 


1-19 


* * 


305-309 


xi. 


1,38 


Evangel. 


372 




33-56 


" 


317-327 




1-46 


L. of W. 


194-198 


xxiv. 


1-53 


" 


331-356 




20-25 


' * 


199 












47-54 


" 


210, 211 




JOHN. 




xii. 


20 

2 


.. 


254-256 
276 








xiii. 


I, 10-19 
1-38 





237-239 










278-283 


i. 


1-18 


Evangel. 


13-18 


xiv. 


30 


Evangel. 


52 




17 


** 


92, 93 




26 


" 


213 




31-34 


" 


120-141 




1-31 


L. of W. 


284-291 




19-51 


" 


170-184 j 




2 


" 


209 




II 


" 


235 i 


XV. 


1-27 


" 


284-287 




13 


L. of W. 


7 


xvi. 


1-33 


" 


287-291 


ii. 


i-ii 


" 


185-234 


xvii. 


1-26 


" 


291-293 




12 


" 


235 




25 


' * 


199 



376 



TEXTUAL INDEX. 



Chap. ! Verse. I Volume. I Page. 



ACTS. 



i. 


3-8 


L. of W. 




15 




11. 


1-39 
37, 38 


Evangel. 


111. 


19 


" 


IV. 


II, 12 


" 


VI. 


1-3 


" 


Vll. 


45, 54 


" 


Vlll. 


9-1 1 


" 


X. 

xi. 
xiii. 


38 

34 

I 

6, 8 


L. of W. 
Evangel. 




33 

I 


L. of W. 


XVI. 


24-28 


** 


XX. 


21 


* ' 



355, 356 
359 

359-363 
179-181 
179-181 
179-181 

292, 293 
64-95 
78 

122, 123 

7 

283 

66, 78 
122, 123 

308 

27, 28 
179, 181 



ROMANS. 



i. 


25 


Evangel. 


11. 


5 
4 


L. of W. 


Vll. 


13 


" 


Vlll, 

ix. 


19. 23, 32 

4, 5 
5 


Evangel. 


X. 


4 
12 


L. of W. 


xi. 


29 


Evangel. 


XV. 


I 


" 



66 
107 
113 
113 

208 

23 

234 

52 

7 
108 
222 



I. CORINTHIANS. 



Chap. 



Verse. 



Volume. 



Page. 



II CORINTHIANS. 



V. 


21 


L. of W. 


ii. 


I, 3 
10 


Evangel. 



9 
205, 208 

108 



GALATIANS. 



28 


L. of W. 


4,6 


Evangel. 


6-19 


" 



7 
49, 64 



EPHESIANS- 



i. 
ii. 


5,8 
50 
1-5 


Evangel. 
L. of W. 


225 

178, 181 
I, 68 


V. 


8-10 
26 


Evangel. 


78, 125 

8 



PHILIPPIANS. 



6 
9 


Evangel. 
L. of W. 


20 


" 


21 


" 


10, II 


" 


I 


" 



63, lOI 

68 

7 
202, 285 
207 
26 



9 
, 21, 22 
6-8 

7 
10 

23 
5 

6.7 
36-52 



L. of W. 
Evangel. 



L. of W 



9 
178, 179 

227 

236 

225 

284 

339 

354, 335 
203, 204 



COLOSSIANS. 



ii. 


15, 16 
13 


Evangel. 
L. of W. 


63 
7. 68 


111. 
iv. 


3 

5.6 

II 


" 


201 
78 
66 



TEXTUAL INDEX. 



377 



Chap. 



Verse. 



Volume. 



I THESSALONIANS. 



ii. 


19, 20 


L. of W. 


26 


V. 


6-8 


Evangel. 


223, 224 




23 


L. of W, 


198 



II THESSALONIANS. 



Evangel. 



I TIMOTHY. 



14 


Evangel. 


2, 3 


* * 


7 


* ^ 


14 


* * 


20 





50 

220-222 
103 

89 

19 



II TIMOTHY. 



10 

17, 18 
I, 8 


Evangel. 


3, 4 






TITUS. 



13 I Evangel. 
5 |L. ofW. 



90 



Chap. Verse. Volume. 



Page. 



HEBREWS. 



i. 


4,6 


Evangel 




5,6 






IV. 


8 






V. 


5 
5-10 






Vll. 


14 
21 

21-27 
25 






X. 


1-7 






XII. 


3 
29 






XUl. 


8 







63 

122, 123 

65 
122, 123 
I2O-I4I 

56 
109 

52, 53 
197 

53. 54 
75 

119 
197 



JAMES. 



17 
20 



I Evangel 

iL. of W. 



197 

78 



I PETER. 



23 


L. of W. 


23 


" 


4, 5 


Evangel. 


6 


" 


21 


L. of W. 


8,9 


Evangel. 


8,9 





177 

74. 75 
354 
213 
224, 225 



II PETER 



I Evangel 



73 



w^ 



TEXTUAL INDEX. 



Chap. 


Verse. 


Volume. 


Page. 


Chap. 


Verse. 


Volume. 


Page. 




I JOHN. 




















REVELATION 




i. 


I 


Evangel. 


19 






1-6 


" 


16-18 










11. 


I 


' ' 


72 


1. 


8 


EvansfeL 


92, 93 


Ill 


8 




1O1-165 




18 


L. of W. 


206 


IV. 


2-3 


' • 


19 


ni. 


14 




5 




i6 


' ' 


18 




20 




34 


V 


I 


L. of W. 


8 


VII. 


15 




201 




6-9 


Evangel. 


119-1.II 


k\. 


15 




165-167 




6-9 




125 


.i.\ii. 


15 




66 




7 




7^2 











L\TIN HYMNS WITH ORIGINAL TRANSLA- 
y TIONS. By Abraham Coles, M. D., LL. D. 
D. Appleton & Company, New York. 

In Four Parts, viz.: 

I — Dies Ir.b, in Thirteen Original Versions. Fifth 
Edition, pp. no. 

2 — Stabat Mater (dolorosa). Second Edition, pp. 37. 
3 — Stabat Mater (speciosa). pp. 25. 
4 — Old Gems in New Settings. Being additional se- 
lections from Mediaeval Hymnology. pp. 77. 

All bound together, with Biographical and Critical 
Prefaces, Illustrations, etc. Crown 8vo., pp. 249. 

By the Same Author, 
THE MICROCOSM AND OTHER POEMS. Beau- 
tifully Illustrated. Crown 8vo., pp. 348. $2.50. 

Also, 
THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF OUR LORD, 
In Verse. Being a complete Harmonized Expo- 
sition of the Four Gospels, with Original Notes, etc. 
In Two Volumes, viz.: 

Vol. I., The Evangel (pp. 405), Illustrated with 
28 full-page "Artotype" copies of costly first- 
class Engravings. Crown 8vo. $5.00. 
Vol. II., The Light of the World (pp. 395), 
Illustrated with a full-page "Artotype" copy 
of Munkacsy's celebrated picture of " Christ 
Before Pilate^ Crown 8vo. $2.50. 

The Same, Tivo Volumes in One. Illustrated with Mun- 
kacsy's " Christ Before Pilate." Crown 8vo., pp. 

405+395 = PP- 8oo- $2.50- 



NOTICES OF THE PRESS, 

" We commend the volume (Dies Ir.e, In Thirteen Original l'e>- 
siofis) as one of great interest, and an admirable tribute from Ameri- 
can scholarship and poetic taste to the supreme nobility of the original 
poem. Dr. Coles has shown a fine appreciation of the spirit and 
rhythmic movement of the Hymn, as well as unusual command of 
language and rhyme ; and we much doubt whether any translation of 
the Dies Ira-, better than the first of the thirteen, will ever be pro- 
duced in English, except perhaps by himself. . . . As to the transla- 
tion of the Hymn, it is perhaps the most difficult task that could be 
undertaken. To render- Faiisf or the Songs of Egniont into fitting 
English numbers, would be easy in comparison. — Ricliard Gram 
White {The Albion). 

"The book is a gem both typographically and intrinsically ; beau- 
tifully printed at the ' Riverside Press,' in the loveliest antique type, 
on tinted paper, with liberal margins, embellished with exquisite 
photographs of the great masterpieces of Christian Art, and withal 
elegantly and solidly bound in Matthew's best style, a gentleman-like 
book, suggestive of Christmas and the centre-table ; and its contents 
worthy of their dainty envelope, amply entitling it as well to a place 

on the shelves of the scholar The first two of the Thirteen 

Versions of the Dies Irce appeared in the ' Newark Daily Advertiser' 
as long ago as 1S47. They were extensively copied by the press, and 
warmly commended — particularly by the Rev. Drs. James W. Alex- 
ander and W. R. Williams, scholars whose critical acumen and liter- 
ary ability are universally recognized — as being the best of the 
English versions in double rhyme ; and examples of singular success 
in a difficult undertaking, in which many, and of eminent name, had 
been competitors. The eleven other versions are worthy companions 
of those which have received such eminent endorsement. Indeed, 
we are not sure but that the last, which is in the same measure as 
Crashaw's, but in our judgment far superior, will please the general 
taste most of all." — Rev, S. I. Prime, D. D. {Neiu York Observer). 

" There are few versions of the Hymn which will bear to be com- 
pared with these ; we are surprised that they are all so well done," 
William C. Bryant {.V. Y. Evening Post). 

"Dr. Coles has made, we think, the most successful attempt 
at an English translation of the hymn that we have ever seen.... 
He-has done so well that we hope he will try his hand on some of the 
other Latin Hymns. By rendering them in their own metres, and 
with so large a transfusion of their spirit as characterizes his present 
attempt, he will be doing a real service to the lovers of that kmd of 



religious poetry in which neither the religion nor the poetry is left out. 
He has shown that he knows the worth of faithfulness." — yaines 
Russell.Lo'vell {Atlantic Mont hi)). 

"Of Dr. Coles' remarkable success as respects these particulars 
(namely, faithfulness and variety), no one competent to judge can 
doubt.... For all that enters into a good translation, fidelity to the 
sense of the original, uniform conformity to its tenses, preservation 
of its metrical form without awkwardly inverting, inelegantly abbrevia- 
ting, or violently straining the sense of the words, and the reproduc- 
tion of its vital spirit^for all these qualities Dr. Coles' first translation 
stands, we believe, not only unsurpassed, but unequalled in the Eng- 
lish language." — C/tristian {Quarterly) Revieiv. 

" Dr. A. Coles has long been known to the literary world as spec- 
ially successful in the translation of Latin Hymns. His renderings 
of the Dies Iru- are familiar to many readers. He has now also pre- 
pared a book entitled Old Gents in iVeii' Settini^'s, an exquisite volume, 
in which we find the De Conteniptu Jlltindi, the J'eni Sanete Spiritiis, 
and other fine old favorites skillfully and gracefully translated. The 
giand hymn or poem of Bernard de Clugny, of which the extracts in 
this book are styled Urlis Calestis Syon, is rendered in a style very 
nearly resembling the original, and gives the reader, who does not 
understand Latin, an excellent idea of the peculiar characteristics of 
the hymn of Bernard. Besides these, we have the Sta/>al Mater, with 
a complete history of the noble hymn, and a very fine translation. The 
lovers of old hymns owe a special debt of gratitude to Dr. Coles for 
the good taste and the thorough appreciation and ability which he 
brings to the work of placing these glorious old songs within reach of 
the modern world. We could wfish them to become favorites in 
every family, and they will so become in spite of their Latin origin." 
— IVilliain C. Prime {younial of Coinmeree). 

" United with a rare command of language and facility of versifica- 
tion, this is the secret of the eminent success with which the Transla- 
tor has reproduced the solemn litany of the Middle Ages in such a 
variety of forms. If not all of equal excellence, it is hard to decide 
as to their respective merits, so admirably do they embody the tone 
and sentiment of the original in vigorous and impressive verse. The 
essays which precede and follow the Hymn, exhibit the learning and 
the taste of the translator in a most favorable light, and show that an 
antiquary and a poet have not been lost in the study of science and 
the practice of a laborious profession. \r addition to the Thirteen 
Versions of Dies Ine, the volume contains translations of the Stahat 
Mater, Urhs Ca'lestis Syjn, I'eni Creator Spirittis, and other choice 
mediaeval hymns which have been executed with equal unction and 
felicity. 

" We have also a poem by the same author, entitled 7V/t' Microcosm, 
read before the Medical Society of New Jersey at its Centenary anni- 
versary. It is an ingenious attempt to present the principles of the 



animal economy in a philosophical poem, somewhat after the manner 
of Lucretius, and combining scientific analysis with religious senti- 
ment. In ordinary hands, we should not regard this as a happy, nor 
a safe experiment, but the dexterity with which it has been managed 
by Dr. Coles, illustrates his versatile talent as well as the originality 
of his conceptions." — George Ripley {^Neio York Tribtuic). 

" Dr. Coles has been too long away from a public which has already 
shown itself kindly to him, and we thank him, especially, for this 
book of his own {^The Microcosm). . . Why should not the wonderful 
make of man — the might and cunning skill that are moulded in him — 
furnish a very choice theme for poetry ? Dr. Coles, accustomed, by 
his profession, to search among and study out these marvels, knowing 
how they are grouped together, what work they do, and how they are 
fitted for it, believes that here is one of the very noblest themes for 
such use, hitherto strangely left alone. This therefore is the occasion 
of his writing The Alicrocosiii. . The Eustachian Tube, and Cerebellum 
and CEsophagus, made into poetry, must have astonished the well- 
informed Medical Faculty of New Jersey, much as a farmer's smoke- 
house and pig-sty and shed would astonish him, if made into a 
picture. And Dr. Coles has really made them into poetry.. ..Tissue 
and organ, and channel, and duct are very skillfully and beautifully 
described, and made to witness to God's goodness : the skin, the 
nerves, the flesh, the heart, the eye, the tongue, the ear, the seeing, 
hearing, speech, light, tears, sleep, music, the blind, the dumb, the 
living mind. Whatever in man is good, and strong, and fine, and 
beautiful, finds place in Dr. Coles' Poem, and is so set forth that the 
man of science and the man who can read and feel the force of good 
thoughts and tuneful words, and knows nothing of anatomy and 
physiology, beside the cheapest axioms of food and sleep, may alike 
enjoy the reading. Whoever has only grovelling notions of man's 
nature, and knows the body only as an instrument of low pleasure and a 
vehicle of pain and punishment, would here learn something better 
of himself and worthier of the answer which he, like holier men, 
must make, at last. Not that all is preaching. The book is, indeed, 
written by a Christian man, to whom his faith in his Redeemer and 
relationship to God are dearer than all other things ; but the blush of 
maiden-love and the conscious glance of the eye ; the deep mother's 
love for the infant nestling in the bosom, and nursing at the breast ; 
the hallowed happiness of two made one, in Christ ; all these glow in 
his pages, with an attractive beauty beyond the common. All that 
imaginative and eloquent account of the brain and its great faculty, 
we would take, whole, if we could.... If high thoughts, m glowing 
words, be noble, is not this which we have just read ?. . . .One meets, 
continually, in this poem, such passages as the following ; and ont 
such, even, would show the fine skill and glowing power of the writer. 

" The second book whose title stands at the head of this article — 
the Siabat Mater — is a translatio.a with very interesting comments. . . . 
Like most poets, the author of The Microcosm writes prose beauti- 



fully, and the reader will never find, in the prose of these volumes, 
anything but what is interesting. In the poem and remarks which 
accompany the Staliat Maler is the utmost justness of criticism, full- 
ness of information, and gracefulness of expression. If as much can 
be learned, elsewhere, of the origin and character, and history of that 
hymn, we may safely say that it can nowhere be learned so pleas- 
antly. These parts of the book, like the corresponding parts of the 
book on the Dies Ira, we hold to be especially valuable." — Rev. Robert 
Lowell, D. D. {The Chiurh Mont lily). 

" Dr. Coles has supplied a want and done a graceful work in 71ie 
Microcosm. What the flower or babbling stream is to Wordsworth, 
that is the stranger, more complex, and more beautiful human frame 
to our author. In its organs, its powers, its aspirations, and its 
passions, he finds ample theme for song. . . Everywhere the rhythm is 
tlowing and easy, and no scholarly man can peruse the work without 
a glance of wonder at the varied erudition, classical, poetical, and 
learned, that crowds its pages, and overflows in foot-notes. And 
through the whole is a devout religious tone and a purity of purpose 
worthy of all praise." — Newark Daily Advertiser. 

" Dr. Coles' researches, made so lovingly and conscientiously in 
his special field of poetical scholarship, have given him a distinct and 
most enviable position among American authors. We of the younger 
sort learn a lesson of reverent humility from the pure enthusiasm 
with which he approaches and handles his noble themes. The ' tone * 
of all his works is perfect. He is so thoroughly in sympathy with 
his subjects that the lay reader instantly shares his feeling ; and there 
is a kind of 'white light ' pervading the whole — prose and verse — 
which at any time trarq lilizes and purifies the mind." — Edmund C. 
Stedman . 

" I have finished the reading of The Microcosm, which has afforded 
me unmingled delight. It is really a remarkable poem, and has pas- 
sa'ges of great beauty and power. It cannot fail to secure the admi- 
ration of all capable of appreciating it. Its ease, its exquisite finish, 
its vivid yet delicate and powerful imagery, and above all its sublime 
religious interest, entitle it to a very high place in our literature." — 
Rev. Robert Turnbtill, D. D. 

"The idea of The Microcosm is novel and daring, but it is worked 
out with great skill and delicacy. Ilie Evangel is a work of piety 
and beauty. The Proem opens with strong, vigorous yet melodious 
verse." — yohn G. Whittier. 

" The Evangel in Verse, is the ripest fruit of the scholarship, 
taste and poetic talent of one of our accomplished students of Eng- 
lish verse, whose translations of Dies Ira- and other poems have made 
the name of Dr. Coles familiar in the literature of our day. In the 
work before us he has attempted something higher and better than 
any former essay of his skillful pen. He has rendered the Gospel 
story of our Lord and Saviour into verse, with copious notes, giving 



the largest amount of knowledge from critical authorities to justify 
and explain the readings and to illuminate the sacred narrative. . . . 
He excludes everything fictitious, and clings to the orthodox view of 
the character and mission of the God-man. The illustrations are a 
complete pictorial anthology. Tlius the poet, critic, commentator 
and artist has made a volume that will take its place among the rare 
productions of the age, as an illustration of the genius, taste, and 
fertile scholarship of the author." — Rev. S. Irenccus Fiime, D. D. {Tlie 
New York Ol'sen'er). 

"The purpose of this volume would be usually regarded as beyond 
the scope of poetic composition. It aims to reproduce the scenes of 
the Gospel History in verse, with a strict adherence to the sacred nar- 
rative and no greater degree of imaginative coloring than would 
serve to present the facts in the most brilliant and impressive light. 
But the subject is one with wh'ch the author cherishes so profound a 
sympathy, as in some sense to justify the boldness of the attempt. 
The Oriental cast of his mind allures him to the haunts of sacred 
song, and produces a vital communion with the spirit of Hebrew 
poetry. Had he lived in the days of Isaiah or Jeremiah, he might 
have been one of the bards who sought inspiration 'at Siloa's brook 
that flowed fast by the oracle of God.' The present work is not the 
first fruits of his religious Muse, but he is already known to the lovers of 
mediaeval literature by his admirable translations of the Dies Ira\ 
.... The volume is brought out in a style of unusual elegance, as 
it respects the essential requisites of paper, print and binding, while 
the copious illustrations will attract notice by their selection of the 
most celebrated works of the best masters." — George Ripley {The N'ew 
York Tribune^. 

" The Evangelin Verse is a feast to the eye and ear and heart. The 
careful exegesis, the conscientious loyalty to the statements of the 
Holy Story, the sympathetic reproduction of a remote and Oriental 
past, the sacred insight into the meaning of the Peerless Career, the 
homageful yet manly, unsuperstitious reverence, the rhythm as melo- 
dious as stately, the frequent notes, opulent in learning and doc- 
trine and devotion, the illustrations deftly culled from whatever 
is choice in ancient and modern art, these are some of the many 
excellencies which give to 7'he Evaijgel in J^erse an immortal beauty 
and worth, adding it as another coronet for Him on whose brow are 
many diadems." — Rev. Geo. D. Boardman, D. D. 

" I admire the skill which The Evangel dei'&^As.y's, in investing with 
rainbow hues the simple narrations of il e Gospels. All, however, 
who have read Dr. Coles' versions of the Dies Ira and other Latin 
Hymns must be prepared to receive any new productions from his 
pen with high expectations. In these d.H\ s when even the clerical 
office seems in many cases insufficient to protect from the present 
fashionable form of scepticism, it is a great satisfaction to see a man 
of science and a scholar adhering so faithfi I'y to the simple Gospel." 
— Rev. Charles Hodge, D. D., LL. D. 



" Dr. Coles is plainly a man of a very religious heart and a deeply 
reverential mind. . . . Moreover he has so much learning in his 
favorite subject, and so much critical instinct and experience, that 
those who can relish honest thinking, and tender and most skillful 
and true deductions, accept his teaching and suggestion with a ready 
— sometimes surprised — sympathy and confidence. Add to all this, 
that he has the sure taste of a poet, and the warm and loving earnest- 
ness of a true believer in the redeeming Son of God, and the catho- 
lic spirit of one who knows with mind and heart that Christianity at 
its beginning was Christii^nity, and we have the man who can write 
such books as earnest Christian people will welcome and be thankful 

for In this new book he proposes ' that I'he /:>'(?«<,'(/ shall be a 

poetic version, and verse by verse paraphrase, so far as it goes, of 
the Four Gospels, anciently and properly regarded as one.' He 
makes an exquisite plea, in his preface, for giving leave to the glad 
words to rejoice at the Lord's coming in the Flesh, for which all other 

beings and things show their happiness In the notes the 

reader will find (if he have skill for such things) a treasure-house, in 
which everything is worthy of its place. Where he has offered new 
interpretations, or set forth at large interpretations not generally re- 
ceived or familiar, he modestly asks only to have place given him, 
and gives every one free leave to differ. Everywhere there is the 
largest and most true-hearted charity. . . . The reader cannot open 
anywhere without finding in these notes, if he be not wiser or more 
learned than ourselves, a great deal that he never saw, or never saw 
so well set forth before." — Rc-v. Robert Lotoell, D. D. {Church Monthly^. 

"There is a kind of straightforward simplicity about the poetical 
paraphrases which reminds one of the homelier but still always inter- 
esting verses which John Bunyaa sprinkles like drops of heavenly 
dew along the pages of the Pilgrim's Progress. The illustrations 
add much to the work, in the way of ornament, and aid to the imag- 
ination. One among them is of terrible power, as it seems to me, 
such as it would be hard to show the equal of in the work of any 
modern artist. I mean Holman Hunt's 'Scapegoat.' There is a 
whole Theology in that picture. It haunts me with its fearful sugges- 
tiveness like a nightmare. I find The Evangel an impressive and 
charming book. It does not provoke criticism — it is too devout, too 
sincere, too thoroughly conscientious in its elaboration to allow of fault- 
finding or fault-hunting." — Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

" I have read a considerable part of The Evangel and with pleasure 
and satisfaction. The versification of the Lord's Prayer is both an 
expansion of the sense and a commentary. The thought has often 
occurred to me what a world of meaning is there wrapped up, and 
that meaning is admirably brought out." — IVilliain C. Bryant. 



*•' The skill of Dr. Coles as an artistic poet, his reverent, religious 
spirit, and the exalted flight of his Muse in the regions of holy medi- 
tation are familiar to our readers. It is, therefore, superfluous for 
us to do more than to announce a new and elegant volume from his 
pen — The Microcosm and Ot/ic?- Poems. It is rich in its contents. 
The Microcosm is an essay in verse on the Science of the Human 
Body; it is literally the science of physiology condensed into 1,400 
lines. The many occasional poems that follow are the efflorescence 
of a mind sensitive to the Beautiful and rejoicing in the True; finding 
God in everything, and delighting to trace the Revelation of His 
Love in all the works of His hand. Such a volume is not to be looked 
at for a moment and then laid aside. Like the great epics, it is a 
book for all time, and will lose none of its interest and value by the 
lapse of years. The publishers have given it a splendid dress, and 
the illustrations add greatly to the attractions of this truly elegant 
book." — Netv York Observer. 

" The flavor of the book — T/ie Microcosm and Other Poems — is most 
quaint, suggesting, on the religious side, George Herbert, and on the 
naturalistic side, the elder Darwin, who, in "The Botanic Garden," 
laid the seed of the revolution in science accomplished by the patient 
genius of his grandson. Some of the hymns for children are beauti- 
ful in their simplicity and truth." — Nezv York Times. 

" The long poem, The Microcosm ,-v^)\\z\i gives its name to the present 
collection, has many beautiful and stately passages. Among the 
shorter pieces following it, is to be found some of the best devotional 
and patriotic! poetry that has been written in this country."— The Critic. 

" In this exquisite and brilliantly illustrated volume, the scholarly 
author has gathered up various children of his pen and grouped them 
in family unity. The Microcosm, which forms one-fifth of the volume 
of 350 pages, is an attempt to present, in poetical form, a compen- 
dium of the Science of the Human Body. In originality of conception 
and felicity of expression, it has not been approached by any work of 
our best modern poets. The other poems are all marked by the 
highest poetic taste, having passages of great beauty and power." — 
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Neivspaper. 

"The title-poem in this exquisitely printed and charmingly illustrated 
volume — The Microcosm and Other Poems — has been for some time 
before the public, and has received generous commendation for the 
tact and skill evinced in handling a very unpromising theme. A 
poetic description, minute and thorough going of the human body 
was a serious undertaking; but Dr. Coles delights in what is difficult 
and hazardous. He had already associated his name forever with the 
mediaeval Latin Hymn, Dies Ine, by publishing no less than thirteen 
distinct versions of it. In the volume before us he gives us three 
more versions. The other poems will not detract from the author's 
previous reputation." — Examiner and Chronicle. 



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